“Of course,” she whispered. “That champagne was far better than the piss I drank on New Year’s Eve.”
I passed the towel over her shoulders and arms, then tossed it to the ground. Even though Tiel—andonlyTiel—had seen my infusion set before, I hated having that apparatus on display. She caught sight of it the morning after the notorious elevator incident, and a few other times when I stayed the night, but never stared at the glucose sensor or insulin port.
I could temporarily detach the tubing that connected the insulin port to the pump so that I wasn’t chained to the device, but I couldn’t yank the infusion set out. She was going to see them and feel them against her skin, and the case could be made for keeping a shirt on. But I didn’t want anything between us tonight, andholyfucking shit,there were entire quadrants of my brain going into lockdown over that notion.
Without breaking her heavy gaze, I unbuttoned my shirt, dropped it, and yanked my gray tank over my head.
“I have a couple more events over this month and next.” I pulled Tiel toward me, locking her between my legs, and I was thanking every higher power that I could name because she didn’t even glance at my abdomen. “I understand if you hated it. They are the most insufferable assholes I’ve ever met, and they seem to think it’s fine to slap some spackle on two-hundred-year-old plaster and call it restoration.” I sighed against her lips, my eyes closed. “I’ll go alone if you really hated it.”
“Oh no,” she laughed. “Did you even notice the number of cougars you had drooling all over you? Someone has to block and defend.”
I dragged my lips over the slope of her neck, and pressed my tank between her breasts. “Want to watch that movie now?” I asked. She giggled, nodding, but this wasn’t our typical routine. We weren’t going to the sofa and we’d be lucky if we saw more than the opening credits. “Put this on.” Her fingers closed around the shirt, and I kissed the tender spot beneath her earlobe while I unzipped her dress.
I stepped back, my hand on my belt buckle, watching Tiel while she clutched my shirt. Conflict was painted all over her face, and despite what happened at the mansion, we were crossing new lines. We’d spent more than two months kissing and snuggling, and the prospect of taking her to bed—an actualbed—loomed so much larger than it had earlier tonight. If she dropped that dress, there weren’t many things that could stop me from licking her entire body, and that redrew all the boundaries.
“Turn around.”
My brow quirked as I fought back a smile. “I ripped off your panties two hours ago. You didn’t ask me to turn around for that.”
“That was the champagne’s prerogative. Not mine.” I didn’t exactly remember it that way, but I wasn’t going to argue with her. “Turn around.”
I complied, but she didn’t account for the bathroom mirror giving me a glorious view of her body or the way she studied the ink on my back once her dress and bra were off. I sighed when her fingers moved over the intricate designs, loving her touch more than I could ever explain.
“This is so beautiful, Sam.”
As I turned, she caught sight of a fishhook inked on the underside of my arm and rubbed her thumb against it. My eyes swept over her breasts, barely restrained by the tank, and I drew her closer.
Her thumb passed back and forth over my bicep, at first tracing on the simple shape and then pressing her mouth against it. “I wanted to taste it,” she said. “I wanted to feel it under my tongue.”
My fingers skimmed up her face and into her hair, my gaze shifting to her mouth. She rose up on her toes to kiss me, and her lips were slow as they moved against me, her tongue gentle, and it brought forth a slight moan that I couldn’t stop. It was one precious kiss, but it seemed bigger than a loud, thrashing orgasm.
“Let me tell you what I’m thinking,” I said, my lips returning to her neck. “We’ll watch the movie after. We’re going to be lucky if I last three minutes once I get inside you because, let’s face it, I’ve been thinking about this for two months.”
“No, you haven’t,” she laughed. She traced the Celtic knot wreath on my shoulder, then followed it with her tongue and teeth, and I was dangerously close to coming all over her again. “You say that to undersell yourself and look like a champ when you over-deliver. Your lines don’t work on me, sir.”
I dragged my fingers up the backs of her thighs until her entire body shivered, and another version of me would have fucked her here. It would have been quick and hard, and it would be good for us both, but it was too easy to fall back on my old tactics. It scared the shit out of me, but I was undressed and taking this woman to bed tonight.
“You wore a pink skirt when we went to House of Blues last month, and in the right light, it was see-through. You were wearing dark panties with light stripes, and I didn’t spend the night with you because I had to go home and jerk off four times.”
“Fourtimes?” she asked. “Stop making shit up.”
“You still doubt me.” I brought her hand to the erection that was drilling into her stomach. “If you don’t want this, say it and we’ll forget the whole night. I’ll leave. We’ll go back to seeing shows and watching movies because you’re my best friend and I’ll doanythingfor you, but know that I’d very much enjoy fucking you—” I thrust into her hand. “Right now.”
Her hand moved over me, and I gave her a quick nod of encouragement followed by a groan that must have originated in my toes when her fist curled around me. “Don’t.” She shook her head and pushed my trousers down to my ankles. “Don’t leave me.”
I marched her out of the bathroom and down the hall to her bedroom, her adorable ass peeking out from under my shirt, andfuck fuck fuck,that was a look I wanted to remember. Hurriedly, I disconnected the tubing from my infusion set as best I could and dropped the device on her bedside table.
“Sam?”
I couldn’t keep my hands off her, and they were everywhere from her legs to her belly to her breasts, and as much as that shirt turned me on, it needed to go. It was cute while it lasted. “Yes, Sunshine?”
“If I let you in,” she said, climbing onto her bed as I followed. “Promise not to break anything.”
She was caged beneath me, her hand firm on my cock while I inched the shirt up her sides, but she was suddenly so much more delicate than I’d ever noticed.
“It’s a deal,” I whispered. “Just don’t break me either, okay?”
A smile spread across her face, and she inched my boxers down. “Show me where I can touch you.”
