She rolls her eyes and pushes off the bed, grabbing her overnight bag. “My turn. Try not to get murdered while I’m gone.”
The bathroom door clicks shut behind her. I drag a hand through my hair and drop onto the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees. The heater rattles, wind howls against the window, and all I can think is how close she’s going to be when the lights go out.
Ten minutes later she comes out in a loose T-shirt and sleep shorts, her wet hair dripping down her shoulders, face cleanand flushed from the heat. She looks… beautiful and I have the sudden urge to pull her to me and lose myself in her.
“Are you going to sleep now?”
“Yeah.” She crawls onto the far side of the bed, pulling the blanket up and facing away from me.
I turn off the lamp, darkness swallowing the room except for the orange glow from the light on the heater. The silence is deafening, her sighs the only thing cutting through it.
“You always this pleasant on road trips?” she asks quietly.
“Only when I’m trapped in a snowstorm with a mouthy woman who acts like a little brat.” There’s a beat of silence. My pulse ticks higher.
And then she murmurs into the pillow, still loud enough for me to hear it. “You like it.”
I shift, rolling to face her shadowed outline. “If I fuck the attitude out of you, think I’ll be able to get some sleep tonight so I don’t kill us on the road tomorrow?”
She goes still, then turns her head, eyes glinting in the dim light. “Maybe.”
The word hangs between us. I drag in a breath, every muscle tight. “You really want to test me on that?”
Her lips curve. “You wouldn’t dare.”
I reach over, thumb brushing the edge of her jaw, the air sparking with everything we’ve been ignoring since Denver.
“Sweetheart,” I murmur, voice low, “you have no idea what I’d dare.”
I don’t give her time to second-guess it. I slide my hand from her jaw down the column of her throat, feeling her swallow hard, then I’m rolling on top of her, pinning her to the sagging motel mattress like that’s where she’s been headed all damn day.
She gasps, fingers flying to my shoulders. “Cole.”
“Yeah,” I grit out, pushing her T-shirt up with one hand. “Say it.”
Her skin is warm from the shower. I drag the shirt higher, over her ribs, and she lifts just enough for me to yank it off. The heater hums, wind howls outside, and in here it’s just us and the creak of the bed.
“You’ve had that smart mouth running since Denver,” I rasp, looking down at her. “You really want to know what I’d dare? I’ll show you.”
Her eyes flash, half-challenge, half-want. “Then show me.”
I cup her breast, thumb sweeping over her nipple until it peaks. She arches into my hand, lips parting. I lower my head and take it into my mouth, then suck hard. Her breath stutters.
“God,” she whispers, fingers sliding into my hair. “Okay. Okay. You win.”
“Now shut the fuck up unless you’re moaning my name,” I murmur against her skin.
I trail my mouth across her chest, nipping, sucking, making sure she’s remembering every smart-ass thing she said today. Her legs fall open around my hips without me asking, and I can feel the heat of her even through her shorts and my boxer briefs. I grind down once, slow, just to hear the sound she makes.
She doesn’t disappoint. It’s a low, raspy groan. “Cole,” she whines, rocking up. “Don’t tease.”
“You’re the one who started with ‘you wouldn’t dare,’” I remind her, dragging a palm down her stomach, fingers hooking in the waistband of her shorts. “You gonna be good for me now and behave?”
She looks right at me, chin lifting the tiniest bit. “I never behave.”
I grin, dark and low. “I’m starting to realize that.”
I yank her shorts and panties down in one drag. She kicks them off, hair a dark spill on the thin motel pillow, cheeks flushed. And fuck me, she’s already dripping for me, thighs slick, all that attitude melting into need.
