CHAPTER437
“That’s not sexy Arrick. That sounds like I’m a rabid stray.” I answer him flatly, a deadpan expression as he seriously killed my self-perception.
“Yep... Sounds about right to me.” He smiles and then grins when my slap gets him in the shoulder. He pulls me into him by the jacket with a sharp tug, body colliding softly into his, so my palms immediately go to his broad chest, and kisses me on the forehead. A tense moment as I really did think he was pulling me in for something a little less platonic, with the ferocity of how quickly he did it. He lingers there a moment, and when he brings his face back down, I can’t miss the way he grazes my nose intimately, eyes panning my face to my mouth and for a second pulls my pelvis into his groin subtly. It’s over so fast that I can’t really gauge what it is. He sighs and moves away.
“Now move, kitty cat, I have a cab waiting downstairs.” He shoves me forward and pats my ass as he ushers me towards the elevator, making me jump that he would smack my butt this way, when not actually fooling around. I widen my eyes at him, torn between reading more into this than I should and letting it go. I’m definitely getting a flirty vibe, and I have no idea if I’m imagining it. If this dress has triggered some sort of horny Arrick tonight, then I’m all for working that angle.
Wishful thinking and all that.
Ushering me in when the doors slide open, he catches my hand in his and laces our fingers together. Back to hand holding again it seems and pulls me to face the door with him. It closes in front of us as he swipes his key card, enters the pin to lock his floor and then hits the ground floor button.
“You obviously don’t get ID’d, right?” Arrick glances across at me quizzically, that hotshot look of a dude in control once more, and knocking my head out of whack, wondering if I’m reading into things too much. I blink at him with a ‘Really?’ expression, as though he surely can’t have forgotten how many bars he collected me from in the past eighteen months of my life. I’m only twenty, and before the new haircut, I never looked like I was even hitting eighteen. It’s amazing though, how a push-up bra and barely any clothes can make your face unimportant to security at trashy bars.
“Not normally, no … although, I do have a pretty awesome fake if you’re worried they may not let me in.” I turn back to the closed chrome doors and admire the reflection the two of us make. We look right together, I guess we always have, except I agree with him on the dark hair thing. It’s the only part of us that stands out as odd. It just reminds me of Camilla and that creep from the hotel, and I glance away from the reflection with a sour taste in my mouth.
“I don’t even want to know where you got that.” He shakes his head, another furrowed brow overtaking his paternal expression. “I doubt you’ll get pulled looking like that, so try and refrain from illegal ID’s in future.” He chastises me and I eye roll dramatically.
“When did you get so boring? Don’t try and tell me you never had a fake, as I know for a fact you and that brother of yours were hitting it hard when you were only seventeen.” I raise my eyebrows knowingly at him, throwing him a serious look, completely aware of his past because the fool was always open and honest with me.
“It’s different for guys.” He shrugs infuriatingly, and I catch the way his eyes scan my legs in the reflection, as he’s pretending not to look at me. It makes me feel smug, bold, and I subtly pose a little more sexily.
“That’s so sexist!” I hit him with my closed fist in the arm, softly, but enough to make him chuckle at me.
“Mm, hmmm” He presses his lips together then dodges when I swing a proper slap at his shoulder in sheer outrage this time. I hate when he tries to goad me on the sexism front.
“Hey! I was agreeing with you.” He catches my hand mid-air, stifling his laughter, pulls me forward by the hand, and for a moment, the way he moves in against me, sends bells ringing. He seems like he’s contemplating kissing me, moving in with a head tilt and easy smile so that he bumps me with his body, but instead pulls me in under his arm, to hook me about the shoulders.
“Rabid kitten!” He plants a kiss on my temple, snuggling me in close, a little more ‘couple’ than platonic, a hand sliding down lower than the small of my back and stopping just at the groove of my ass. Risky, not a usual Arry move, definitely causing a burning ache in my lower pelvis as his fingers linger on my butt dimple, yet not quite over the danger point enough for my liking. I sink against him and will his hand to just pass the last distance and do something about this obvious tension building here. If this is how horny feels then I’m definitely all over that, aching, tingling, and warming from the inside out, with just the briefest of little signals from him.
Who knew I could even feel this way?
In heels as high as these, it makes me the perfect height to snuggle up close; my head just past his shoulder and his eyes move to my mouth. I frown away the urge to lock mine on him, as it’s the third time I’ve gotten the vibe he wants to kiss me and get overly frustrated.
What’s stopping you already?
“Asshole.” I spit back, nestling closer to him in his embrace, encouraging more, but also so I don’t need to face him and see exactly how he’s looking at me if he isn’t going to do anything about it. If he wants it, then he has to make some moves. The elevator pings and the door slides open.
“What happened to Massive Douchebag? I like that one, it has a sexy ring to it.” He nudges me suggestively with his hip, so I’m moved but not knocked over, his face sliding close to mine again as he gazes at me with humor. He bites on his bottom lip, very ‘dude’, sexy, playful yet that hint of flirt again and the sudden heart hammering ups a gear, making me unable to remove my eyes from that crazily kissable mouth of his.
I’m really not imagining there’s something subtly different since I walked out wearing this dress. I don’t know if I should ignore it or act upon it; he seems to be testing some sort of internal boundary and I want him to stop holding back. He has my stomach fluttering, and my body all goosebumps, arousing parts of me that I never knew could even get aroused. It’s making me unsure of myself, more than a little nervous and definitely antsy around him.
“You are all of the above and much, much, more.” I frown petulantly, yelping when he slaps my ass to propel me out of the elevator and this time, I know for a fact this is not how he normally behaves. Arrick slaps asses when carrying on, usually with a little intent, just to piss me off, but this feels more sexual.
Where the hell did this come from?
He lets me go as I half run, half skip out in front of him, onto the shiny marble floor of the foyer to his building, purely with the force of that butt slap that about knocked me off balance. I can still feel where his palm landed, and it’s lower than where he normally smacks me. I liked it too, which opens up a whole other can of brain worms, considering my father used to beat me.
He comes up behind me, catches my hand again, something sizzling between us as he leads me out into the guarded main entrance in front of huge glass doors onto New York’s busy streets. He nods at the security man sat behind a marble desk., I recognize the little old man and beam at him, because he’s my favorite of the desk clerks and usually only on at night, so I don’t see him very often anymore. He’s been here for years, the whole two years Arry has lived here anyway, and I always love to chat to him.
“Have a good night, Mr. Carrero, Miss. Huntsberger.” He grins at us and holds out a red lollipop as we pass. I squeal my delight, letting go of Arrick’s hand so I can collect my familiar offering from just about the best security guard in the whole of the city. Completely elated that even after months, he still remembers, and still keeps these for me.
“Thank you, Mr. Frankie, always a pleasure. Tell Mrs. Frankie. I said hi.” I giggle sweetly and unwrap my candy, dropping the paper in the trash can he holds out to me and give him my most genuine smile.
“Strawberry whirl, your favorite. Been keeping you one for a few days now.” He beams back at me and Arrick tugs at the back of my jacket softly, smiling at me from behind.
“You too, Frank, we shouldn’t be too late. This one has a curfew.” Arrick smiles at him and pulls me back to follow. I give Frank a little finger wave and a smile as I pop the lollipop in my mouth to suck on its sweet yummy flavor. I catch Arrick’s eyes go to my mouth as I do so, and the uncomfortable frown he gives off before looking away, confirms his head is definitely on sex at this moment. He clears his throat softly and carries on regardless. I, however, grin to myself. A little smug that the guy who could only ever see me as platonic, just got an urge from me sucking off a lollipop.
High five."
