Page 17 of Necessary Roughness

Knox

But the biggest thing was that I had a powerful intuition. I could feel when a play was collapsing, and sense when opposing players were about to tackle me. A tingle on the back of my neck letting me know something was off .

While refilling the beer pong cups for the next game, I felt that tingle.

“I’ll be back,” I told Logan, and immediately went searching for Sloane.

It was probably nothing. It was more likely she was standing in line for the bathroom rather than something bad happening. But I wasn’t going to be able to relax until I knew for certain.

I found her in the hallway arguing with some guy.

I instantly knew they had a history. This dude had Big Ex Energy. I kept my distance, watching from across the hall while a nearby freshman girl frowned up at me.

“How do I know you?” she asked.

“I’m Ken Jennings, the host of Jeopardy,” I replied absently. My eyes were locked onto Sloane and the mystery man.

“What’s Jeopardy?” the girl asked.

The guy grabbed Sloane’s arm forcefully.

I immediately acted on instinct, the same as when I felt an opponent rushing into my blind spot to tackle me. I surged forward, shouldering past other partiers to get to Sloane as quickly as possible, grabbing the guy by his shirt and shoving him up against the wall hard .

I didn’t even remember what I said, but I put as much menace as I could into the words.

The guy was alarmed for a moment, then the look in his eyes changed. “Holy shit. You’re Knox Maddox.” His gaze cut past me. “Sloane, you know the captain of the football team?”

“I don’t know her,” I said, leaning a little more of my weight into him. “But I know you’re harassing her.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said stubbornly. “This is my ex. We were having a discussion.”

“I agree,” I said softly. “You were having a discussion. Past tense.”

With the same intuition that had brought me here, I sensed Logan stepping behind me to back me up.

“And here’s Logan Fucking Hunter,” Sloane’s ex said. “Are you going to assault me, too?”

“Maybe. If I have to.” I saw Logan shrug out of the corner of my eye. “I’m more of a nonviolent kind of guy, but I won’t shy away from an ass that needs kicking. Up to you.”

“You’ve got five seconds to leave this party,” I said, lessening my grip on his shirt.

He lifted his chin. “Or what?”

“Or we’ll get you kicked out,” Logan said. “And not just this party. I can send one text message and you’ll be banned from every single party on campus for the next two semesters. See? Told you I was nonviolent!”

The asshole who had touched Sloane glanced back and forth between us, then brushed by me and made a hasty exit. As soon as he was out of sight, I turned to Sloane.

“You okay?”

She let out a deep breath. “Yeah. I think so. That was Troy, my ex.”

“Great guy,” Logan said.

“You seem shaken up,” I told her. “You sure you’re all right?”

“I’m going to get away from the noise for a minute,” she said.

I nodded. “Let’s go outside and get some fresh air.”

“I don’t like the cigarette smoke. Follow me.” She glanced at Logan. “Both of you.”

We followed her upstairs. This was a massive frat house with three floors full of bedrooms, and after peeking in a couple, she ducked into one room at the end of the hall.

As soon as we were inside with the door closed, the music downstairs dimmed to a muted thumping.

Whoever lived here was a huge Metallica fan; there were at least a dozen different posters on the wall, two of which were signed.

Sloane slowly sat on the edge of the bed, then leaned back on her hands and gazed up at the two of us.

“Let’s try this again,” she said softly. “And this time, we’d better not get interrupted.”

My cock leaped, awoken at her suggestion. I paused, tracing the lines of her body with only my eyes. Her sun dress was modest by college girl standards, but sitting on the bed made it ride up a little. Showing off those long, smooth legs.

I didn’t know what it was about this girl, but I had never wanted anything so badly in my life. If I didn’t claim this woman right fucking now, I was going to explode. Too much pressure had built up inside of me. I had to have her.

Logan cleared his throat. “We don’t have to do this. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I want to. I really, really want to. But you don’t owe us anything.”

“Yes, we do have to do this,” she replied simply. “Because if we don’t, I’m going to keep obsessing over it the way I’ve done for the past week. Now quit being gentlemen and come here .”

She patted the bed on either side of her.

All of my resistance and hesitation disappeared in the blink of an eye. I sat next to Sloane and reached for her, resting my hand on the curve of her waist.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” I whispered.

Sloane let out a little whimper as I claimed her supple lips with mine.

I parted them, slipping my tongue into her mouth and tasting her for the first time since we watched Die Hard at her place.

The simple friction of our lips and tongues instantly took me to heaven.

She was sweet and succulent, the best drug I’d ever tasted.

I was aware of Logan sitting on the other side of her, but I was busy tugging on the bottom of her chin to open her mouth wider.

I kissed her harder, claiming more of this amazing woman, my cock throbbing in my jeans.

I dragged my fingers down her throat, discovering the slopes of her breasts, tugging down the fabric of her dress so I could cup her sensitive flesh.

“Yes,” Sloane moaned.

Then it was Logan’s turn to claim her, snatching her chin and turning her lips toward him. Not to be outdone, I squeezed her breast possessively, my fingers tightening around her nipple. She reacted in the most perfect way, arching her back and moaning into Logan’s kiss.

I was struck with the most intense feeling of déjà vu. Except unlike the party last week, this time Sloane wasn’t drunk. She was totally in control of her faculties.

Which made this infinitely better.

I allowed Logan to make out with her for a bit, turning my focus to her neck.

Planting soft kisses, dragging my tongue down to the sensitive place where it met her shoulder.

I wanted to taste her, every goddamn inch of her.

My fingers went to her thigh, squeezing through the fabric before sliding lower, up underneath her dress.

She spread her legs on the edge of the bed, giving me all the permission I needed.

As soon as my fingertips touched the edge of her panties, she tore her lips away from Logan and kissed me again.

I licked the line of her mouth, massaging my tongue with hers.

She grasped the back of my neck with both hands and rolled into me, throwing a leg over my lap until she was straddling me on the edge of the bed, hiking up her dress so that it wasn’t in the way.

I moaned anew as she ground against my cock.

Entranced by the beauty of this woman, I was only distantly aware of Logan standing behind Sloane, wrapping his hands around her body to squeeze her breasts with both hands. “I love your tits,” he whispered into her ear.

“Then you’re going to love my pussy,” she crooned while gazing into my eyes.

Jesus fucking Christ. This woman reduced my resolve to a puddle of nothingness.

I kissed her again, harder this time, sensing one of Logan’s hands sliding around her hip and between her legs. “Fuck, you’re wet,” he said.

“Wet for you,” she replied, moving her lips to my ear. “Both of you.”

“Fuck yes,” Logan groaned, his hand moving more urgently between her legs.

For a few blissful moments, she writhed in my lap, kissing me while Logan caressed her from behind. It wasn’t weird having another guy in the room. It wasn’t even weird having him on the other side of her, wedging her supermodel body against me.

It felt like the most normal, most natural, thing in the world.

Then Sloane managed to grit out, “I don’t want to do this.”

I felt my veins go ice-cold. Shit.

She gazed down at me with a world of lust in her eyes. “I don’t want to play around. I don’t want to waste time. I want to do this. Now .”

Relief flooded into me, my cock somehow going even more stiff at her bluntness.

“No foreplay?” Logan asked her.

“Playing beer pong was the foreplay,” she replied. Her gaze locked onto mine. “Watching you handle my ex was the foreplay. Thinking about the way we made out on my couch was foreplay. Now it’s time to show me what the two of you can do.”

I glanced at Logan. “We’d better give her what she wants, then.”