One corner of her mouth quirked up. "Please do."
I boosted her up, kept one hand on her ass, the other between her shoulder blades. "You and me, Stella? We don't go easy. It's all or nothing, and it always has been." Her legs tangled around my waist and I did my level best to hold back a growl but failed. Miserably. "I'm taking you in there and I'm giving you everything I've got and it's you and me. You and me, sweet thing."
"You and me," she repeated with a nod.
My eyes widened as a wave of surprise hit me. I wasn't sure she'd give me this much. I wasn't sure she'd give me anything. But here she was, giving everything.
"Talk to me about pro—"
"Condoms," she interjected. "I seem to recall you telling me you had that under control."
"And I do," I agreed. "I definitely have it covered."
Her knees pressed into my flanks as she laughed. "Thank you," she said. "For covering it. I appreciate that."
"Your standards are too low if you're thanking me for using a condom," I said, pivoting toward the bedroom. She took this opportunity to yank my t-shirt over my head, fling it out of sight. Her nails raked over my shoulders, down my back. Goddamn if I didn't nearly roar. "I promise you'll appreciate far more than the rubber when I'm done with you."
My bedroom was seven steps from the sofa. I knew this because I'd called this apartment home for more than a handful of years and I'd shuffled to bed while seventy-five percent asleep after working multi-day shifts. I knew this but somehow the distance seemed to multiply when getting Stella on a soft surface was my only purpose in life. I couldn't be bothered to look up from the crook of her neck or separate my hands from her body to gauge my location in the apartment but that didn't stop me from grumbling over the distance.
After wandering for an eternity, I stopped beside the bed.
"I need to be on top," she whispered. "I can't—I can't get there unless I'm on top."
"If that's what you need, you'll have it." I ground her against me, raking her body over my aching length. It was like scratching a bug bite. Oh, it was relief but it was going to hurt something fierce if I kept at it. "I'm not going to tell you how your body works, Stel, but I'm still going to make it my mission to get you there on your back," I bit out, rocking her center where I needed it. "Against the wall. From behind."Hurt so good. "And if I don't succeed with any of those, I won't close my eyes until I get you there, sweet thing. I won't."
Stella grinned at me, her dimples lighting up like sweet little fireworks. "It's easier if you let me be on top. Less work. Faster too," she said.
"Why the hell would I want to speed things up?"
"You wouldn't," she replied. Her lips tipped up in a way that suggested she knew something I didn't. Or understood something I was missing. Wasn't that always the way with this woman? "But I want to make it good for everyone. That's all."
"If there's one thing I can promise you, it's that." I was breathless now. Aching, aching, aching. "Studying your body and understanding how to make it hum is not work, Stel. It's a privilege." Speaking directly to the tender skin at the base of her throat, I said, "I want to tear this dress off you. I want to fucking destroy it."
She shimmied out of my hold and knelt on the bed, reaching for my belt as she smiled up at me. "If you did that, I'd have nothing to wear home."
"There's always the raincoat," I replied as she unbuttoned my jeans. "One of these days, I want to strip that raincoat off you and find bare skin."
My jeans hit the floor. "Interesting," she mused, her gaze fixed on the bulge beneath my boxers. "The naked raincoat idea, not this." She nodded at my erection. "This is interesting but in totally different ways. Good ways.Greatways."
Her fingers traced the band of my boxers, and that devilish, dimpled smile playing on her lips had me rock-hard in a matter of seconds.
I nodded, reached for the zipper at the nape of her neck. "Since you don't want me ripping it, how do I get this off?" I asked, tugging at the sides of her dress.
Stella snorted out a laugh. "I was hoping you'd know how to getthisoff," she replied. "That's why I'm here, Cal."
I gathered the skirt up, easing it over her head as she held up her arms. Her breasts came into focus, full and heavy in a pale pink bra. Damn, I wanted to tear that too. Just shred the fuck out of that lace. I didn't have a clear reason for this surge of violence in me. It wasn't anger or hostility—I just wanted her naked. And naked such that she'd never be clothed again.
It was crazy. I knew that. But so was biting a starburst pattern into her ass.
"Do not doubt that I'll fuck that mouth," I said, carefully setting her dress aside.
"I'm glad we're on the same page about that," she said, a laugh winding through her words.
I reached out, curling my fingers around the middle of her bra. I could almost hear it ripping, feel it shredding in my hands. But I pulled the cups down instead, baring those beauties. I cupped her breasts, my thumbs circling her dark, dusky nipples. They were already hard but my treatment pulled them tighter.
I bent, my palm cupping her breast and my thumb circling her nipple, and I bit. Just a small bite, barely a nip. She smelled like warmth and sex and tasted just as good. Better.
"Cal," she whispered, her fingers twisting in my hair while I closed my teeth around the underside of her breast. "Cal."
