I felt the shift in his demeanor and wondered again if he’d guessed what I’d almost said instead. Then he kissed me softly on the shoulder.
“Nowhere that can’t be hidden by a suit,” Reese practically growled in my ear. “I remember.”
He fucked me deep and slow, and then his mouth was there, on the top of my shoulder, sucking up a bruise. Then another. By now, I was practically flat on the bed, his body driving me into the mattress with every thrust. I desperately wanted to come again. The pain on my shoulder slowly bloomed as Reese worked at the mark he was making.
He stopped and pulled back. “Look at you,” he rasped. His breath wafted over the abused skin and when I shivered, Reese made a feral sound deep in his chest. He fucked me hard, slamming into me over and over. He was saying things to me about how good I felt, how hot I looked, and the whole time I was left to wonder if he’d ever thought about marrying me, or if I was alone in my desire to take that step.
“Where’d you go?” Reese slowed again and then snaked an arm underneath me, lifting me off the bed.
“I’m right here,” I said, turning my head to kiss him. It was an imperfect kiss. The angle was off. I couldn’t kiss him as deep as I wanted or needed.
“I’m right here,” I told him again, reaching up and grabbing the arm that he had wrapped around my chest.
Reese’s other hand slid down my front, and he grabbed my cock, pumping it as he growled in my ear.
“I’m close,” he rasped like he was pained. Like he was holding himself back. Like he was seeking permission to come even now.
“Come,” I said, my ass clamping down on his cock, eager to feel him let go.
Reese put his mouth on the mark he’d just made on me, bringing a bloom of new pain as he sank his teeth into it. I shattered into a million pieces, and he held me tighter as he drilled into me until we were both breathless and spent.
He sat back on his heels and dragged me with him so I was sitting in his lap. He kissed the mark he’d made, and I nearly cracked in half. I wanted to turn and bury my face in his neck and kiss that spot of skin I loved. I wanted to be the one holding him. It felt like I might fall apart if I didn’t, but I wanted him to have this moment of quiet stillness. This peace.
CHAPTER 4
Reese
Two weeks before Thanksgiving,I cornered Morgan in front of her apartment. I knew her well enough to know what time she got home from work, and I left the house early enough to catch her before I had to head to work myself. When she saw me leaning against the front of her building, she startled, grabbing the strap of her purse like she’d seen a pickpocket and not her best friend.
“Hey, bestie,” I greeted, arms folded over my chest.
“Hey, Reese.” She gave me a tight smile. “What’s up?”
“I don’t know, dude. You tell me.”
She approached me with wary eyes and something that felt a lot like dread pooled in my stomach. I followed her inside and up to her apartment, not bothering to take off my shoes because I didn’t have time to stay long.
“Don’t you work tonight?” she asked.
“I do, but I feel like you’ve been avoiding me, and I don’t like it.”
“I’m not avoiding you, Reese.” She shoved her hair back out of her face, but it fell right back anyway. I reached into mypocket and pulled out a hair tie, which she took with a hard swallow and an evasive glance.
Morgan always lost her hair ties, so I’d taken to carrying them for her out of habit.
“Are you having issues with Cory living here now?” I asked.
She tied up her hair and exhaled, shoulders sagging under whatever was really going on between us. I looked over her shoulder at everything in her apartment. It had been a really long time since I’d been there. The two of us used to be very near inseparable, and Cory coming into the picture had definitely changed that, but Morgan hadn’t expressed any concern about it to me…ever.
“I think Cory is the best thing that’s ever happened to you,” she said, throwing herself down onto her couch.
“You like him too,” I reminded her. “As a friend.”
“I like him a lot, Reese.”
I couldn’t even ask if she was sleeping with him. The idea was preposterous, but it did live in a very dark and angry corner of my mind that couldn’t come to any other conclusion about why my best friend and my boyfriend had both suddenly started acting like they had something to hide from me.
“Are you?—”
