The One That I Want (Scorned Women Society Book 3) by Piper Sheldon (e book reader android txt) 📕

“Shit,” I said, my brain short-circuiting.

“Okay, Roxxo?” he asked.

I clung to the rung. This was ridiculous. I could literally fall from here and I would be fine. Worse case it’d knock the wind out of me but it was as though my fear was on a delay and I physically couldn’t move. I looped my arms through the rung and closed my eyes.

“I’m fine. I live here now,” I called. I was humiliated. I tried so hard to keep my shit together around Sanders but he just had a knack for opening all the darkest rooms in my mind, rummaging through my stuff with a giant flashlight.

“You’re super close. You don’t need to worry about the clips. Just come on down. I’ll catch you.”

“Yep. Okay.” I didn’t move.

“New plan,” he called up. “I’m gonna come and unclip you and then we’ll climb the rest together.”

“Honestly, I’m fine,” I said.

“Sure you are. But I need to get this equipment returned, so can you help me out?”

“You should have brought your own.”

“Weirdly, they weren’t okay with that.”

“Okay. I’ll allow you to help me to help you,” I said in a squeaky voice.

He chuckled. “Thanks.”

The rungs weren’t made for two people at a time. He had to balance a step higher and below me so that he was sort of bear hugging me from behind. My back was pressed tightly to his front. His warmth wrapped around me like a sun-dried towel after a dip in the pool.

“Just gonna do this one first.” He unclipped me fast and confidently.

Everything about him was so assured. He moved through life as though he’d reviewed every step ahead of time and was just retracing a familiar path. I envied that poise but I knew the truth now. He was just as afraid as I was. But he didn’t let that stop him. He leapt even when he was scared.

“Now, you’re just gonna climb down. Just like a step ladder at work,” he said.

My head shook even as I said, “Okay.”

He laughed a little and it shuddered through my body.

“We’re very close to the bottom. You could hop down from here. I promise.”

“I know. This is humiliating.”

“No. Totally normal. Post-adrenaline crash. Happens all the time.”

“You just made that up.”

“I’m sure it’s a thing. But, Roxy.” He lowered his head to whisper in my ear. Goose bumps trailed down my neck. “Are you ticklish?”

“Don’t you dare!” I said.

I pushed back and threw him off me. He hopped off and landed on his feet with a chuckle.

“Trust fall!” I yelled.

“Roxy, wait!”

But it was too late. I fell, crashing into his arms. We both collapsed onto the ground, rolling in a heap of limbs and swearing. I elbowed him hard on the chest. He gasped out a loud “oomph.”

I rolled off him and stood up. I unsnapped the helmet and the harness with shaking hands, feeling like I couldn’t breathe again until all the gear was off. Shrugging out of them so fast you’d have thought spiders were crawling all over them. He did the same from his position on the ground, wincing a little from where I hit him.

“Sorry about that. Is your ankle okay?” I asked with a frown. We were lucky it didn’t get more hurt the first time he fell.

He looked up at me with a soft smile as he watched me peel off the gear. “It’s fine.”

I worried my bottom lip. “You keep getting hurt around me.”

“I’m just happy to be around you,” he said earnestly.

This man who was infinitely patient with me. This man who pushed me outside my comfort zone while holding my hand so I wouldn’t fall. What sort of person acted like that? How was he able to be so open, so sure and sexy and confident?

I’m sure my nerves were part of it. I’m sure the residual fear added to it. And I was positive that final look he gave me pushed me over the ledge.

I attacked him.

I threw myself on top of him and pushed him back into the dirt. I lowered my mouth to his. There was no thought. I had to kiss him again. He tasted better than I remembered from last night. Better than our first night in Denver. His body was on fire beneath me and I wanted to warm myself against him. My whole body shook but so did his. It amplified the heat burning through me. Our tongues rubbed. He sucked on my lower lip. I moaned embarrassingly loud. I pulled back to breathe. His hair was a mess. I guess I did that. My hands were still tangled in it.

He wasn’t smiling. His eyes were ablaze.

“Was that okay?” I asked.

A second later, I was on my back and he was kissing me again. He spread my legs with his and pressed his rock-hard erection into me. It was jarring. How was he this hard this fast? I wasn’t complaining. It was clear where his swagger came from.

“Yes,” he breathed as I gasped for breath. His eyes flicked back and forth between mine. They roamed over my face, his nostrils flared. He seemed almost as surprised as I was. Gone was the charm, burned away by dark desire.

I pushed him up and over until I was on top of him again.

“Control freak,” he said teasing.

His blue eyes were wide and sparkling with lust as they shifted to search my face. They lowered to my chest where my boobs were dangerously close to falling out of my sports bra and shirt.

Free the nip!

He must have had the same thought because his head lowered and he pressed his face into my cleavage.

I gripped his head closer. Balancing on one arm, he managed to wrangle a breast free because one was in his mouth a second later. He sucked at it, flicked my nipple with his tongue.

“Sanders,” I gasped.

His hands roamed up my shirt. They gripped and moved frantically like he couldn’t decide where to touch first or where to stay. I