She said nothing.
Well, that was probably my answer. I’d slept with my coach, and now here she was, regretting it. But I refused to think of it that way. How could I? How could there be anything wrong with the way I felt when I kissed her? How much I wanted her, wanted everything—her laughter, the way she challenged me.
But I knew I was alone in that.
For her, it was just lust. My touches, my kisses, how I made her body hum with pleasure. But for me, it was something deeper, something I couldn’t name yet, but I felt it down to the core of me.
With a sigh, I rolled away from her, sitting up in the bed. I reached over to grab my boxers. Today, of all days, they had monkeys on them. Yes, I was a child, but no, I didn’t care. A little humor was all I could muster right now.
I pulled them on, the fabric tight against my skin, and stood up, scanning the floor for the rest of my clothes. They were strewn haphazardly at the foot of the bed.
“I’m just going to?—”
“Stay,” came her voice, commanding and firm from the bed. Frankie pushed the blanket aside and sat up, her bare chest exposed, impossible to ignore. She didn’t cover herself, didn’t even flinch with embarrassment.
“What?” I must’ve misheard her.
“Dammit, Valentine, do I really have to fucking spell it out?” She sounded wild then—her hair tousled, eyes wide, cheeks flushed. Ravaged.
Mine.
I dropped the crumpled pile of clothes in my hands, my instincts pulling me toward her. I stalked back to the bed, looming over her, feeling the heat radiating between us. She blinked once, twice, her gaze moving up my chest before shifting to something over my shoulder. She wouldn’t meet my eyes, and it drove me crazy.
I bent low, planting both hands on the bed beside her. “I think you do, yeah,” I muttered, a grin tugging at my lips.
A charged silence stretched between us, the weight of the moment pressing down as we silently dared each other to make the next move.
Finally, Frankie pushed herself up onto her knees, the blanket falling away completely. She crawled across the bed until her lips hovered just inches from mine. She brushed them lightly, a feather-soft touch that left me aching.
“I’m asking you to stay,” she whispered. “Here. With me.”
I smiled against her mouth, letting my lips slide slowly over hers in languid, drawn-out strokes. “Good girl,” I whispered back.
Her hand moved toward the waistband of my boxers, but I caught her wrist, halting her. “Not right now.”
I crawled onto the bed, shifting so I hovered over her. She lowered herself beneath me with a soft groan, and I pressed a hard kiss to her lips then to each of her cheeks, her forehead. I rolled off her, despite her quiet protest.
I couldn’t hold back the grin that spread across my face as I lay beside her, my body still humming with the closeness of hers. She turned to face me, pressing herself against me, warm and pliable, as I snaked my arm around her back, pulling her closer.I kissed the tip of her nose softly, watching as she wrinkled it in response.
“You’re a strange one, aren’t you, Valentine?” she teased.
I didn’t answer right away, instead letting my hand slide slowly up and down her spine, feeling the soft curve of her body. “I like it when you call me Valentine,” I said. “Even when we’re naked in bed together.” I liked every name she called me.
“That’s your name, genius.”
I grinned. “Yes, but it’s my last name. It’s what you call me as my coach, and I’ve got to say… being in bed with a coach is probably the hottest thing I’ve ever done.”
She squinted at me, her expression unreadable. “Can I admit something too?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“I don’t think anything in my life can top how you just made me feel.”
The words hit me harder than I expected. My heart pounded, and for the first time in what felt like forever, I felt…seen. As if nothing else mattered in the world except this moment. Her, me, here. Together.
And damn, that was all I needed.
Biting my lip to keep the smile at bay, I pushed my nose into hers. “And how was that?” My lips pressed to one cheek. “Sexy?” Then the other. “Dangerous?” I nipped her chin. “Undone?”
