Page 74 of Not So Goode

Scary.

And then he turned, whirling on me. Palms pressed up against the door. One hand slid down and turned the lock. Thesnickof the lock hitting home sounded awfully final.

His eyes were nearly black, radiating primal, feral hunger. That aura of hyper-threatening dominance was now turned on me, and in my case, he wasn’t threatening violence, but something…similar.

Potentially violent, in a delicious, erotic sort of way.

Oh god. I didn’t want rough sex.

Did I?

Wait, wait.DidI? I hadn’t thought so…until this moment.

Shit, shit. Did I really, truly want the kind of raw, demanding, violentfuckingCrow’s eyes were promising me?

Until now, sex for me had never been anything but sweet, and gentle.

And half-assed, if I’m honest.

Pathetic, in comparison to the way Crow had made me feel so far.

“Donottempt me, Charlotte.” That low sharp rasp was still there, but this time it was guttural with heat, rather than icy with menace. “Self-control ain’t a strong suit of mine, babe. Look at me the wrong way, say the wrong thing right now, and I can’t promise I’ll be able to hold back anymore.”

I held myself tall, staring boldly up into his eyes. “Is that a threat,Crow?” I ran my hands up his bare chest. “I’d use your full name, but I don’t know it.”

A long, hard silence. He chewed on the inside of his cheek. Sighed. “Corvus Crow. No middle name.”

I bit my lip, blinking. “Corvus.” I racked my brain. “Isn’t that the—”

“Latin name for crow.” He hooked a single index finger in the front of my leggings.

I giggled. “Ah. Now I see. So your name, literally, is Crow Crow.”

“Yeah. Fuckin’ stupid. Parents were stoned when they named me, and that ain’t a joke.”

“I’ll stick with Crow,” I said.

“Good plan.” He tugged down. Bared the very top of my sex, an inch or so, but no more. “Tell me no, Charlie. Tell me you’re too good for this shit.”

“What shit am I too good for, Crow?” I didn’t dare blink, didn’t dare look away from him.

I had my fingers clawed into his chest, adrenaline racing through me.

He tugged again, but the leggings were stuck on the swell of my ass—his hands scoured around, palming my buttocks and sliding down, taking the leggings with his rough, fiery touch. “This dirty-ass bathroom.” A pause. “Me.”

“Crow…” I breathed.

“You’re too good for this kinda thing, Charlie.” He sank to his knees in front of me, bringing my leggings down around my ankles. Stared up at me. “Too good to let me do this to you in a fuckin’ dirty-ass dive bar bathroom.”

“What if—“ I gasped as he kissed up the inside of my thigh. “What if I…holy shit, Crow. What if I’m tired of always beingtoo goodfor everything?”

“You say that now, when it’s feelin’ good, babe. But will you still feel that way when we gotta walk outta this bathroom together, everyone in that bar knowing what we were doing in here? What Ididto you, in here?”

A thought occurred to me, then. “On the bus—Myles, your whole band, they were all on the bus too.”

“Yeah.”

“I wasn’t quiet.”