He was still on the couch, but he was reading one of my books that belonged to a stack on the coffee table. Manspreading attractively, he held the book in one hand with his brows furrowed into a small crease. The book was one with a cover of lipstick marks and a skull set on a dark background. And Dean had opened it to where I had left my bookmark.
As much as I liked the sight of him reading in his basketball gear, shorts hitched up enough to reveal a tiny glimpse of the mystery tattoo on his left thigh, I knew of the scene that was coming next and didn’t feel confident discussing it out loud.
I approached him quickly, dropped the clothes onto the coffee table, and swiped the book from his hand, smiling innocently when he looked up at me.
His right eyebrow cocked up. “What’s it about?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Mhm.”
The expression on his face was coy but full of suspicion as he considered for a moment. Then, without warning, his hands shot to my waist and I was pulled forward, laughing breathlessly as I landed on top of him, my knees on either side of his torso as he lay down. I pushed up from his chest and went to move but his hands came to my thighs to hold me in place.
He looked up at me with a lazy grin, his head resting on the arm of the couch and hair tousled.
“What’s it about?” he repeated with more of a purr.
I straightened, noting the way his abs felt beneath me, brought the book behind my back, and shook my head. “That is for me to know and you to never find out.”
Unintentionally or not, he stroked his thumb in small motions on my thigh as he tilted his head. The corner of his mouth curved slightly before he bumped his hips up.
The air whooshed from my lungs as I was knocked forward. I shot my hands out to brace them on either side of his head and he took the opportunity to snatch the book back. Pinning me against him with his arm as he laughed breathlessly, he held the book out above our heads and opened it to a page further than where my bookmark was. His eyebrows rose slowly at what he read.
“Miss Whitmore...” He dragged his eyes to me, and I stopped trying to pry his arm off my waist. “Are you reading porn?”
I huffed the hair from my face in exasperation, something that made him smile. “It’s not porn. It’s...romance.”
His eyes went back up to the book. “He’s got her over a table with a candlestick...and a lot of bondage.”
I opened my mouth but shut it again. I had nothing. And was blushing from head to toe because of the proximity, the topic, and the fact the seam of my shorts was pulled just a little tight between my legs.
Struggling was futile when his arm around my waist was like a vice while he continued to read. So I trailed my eyes down to his throat. My heart was already racing over what I was about to do.
Stepping a little further out of my comfort zone, I relaxed my body. Soft and warm against his sculpted, hard edges. He noticed the shift in my body weight, evident in the way his hand gently splayed on my side, but kept his arm around me. Taking inspiration from him, I parted my lips and pressed an open-mouth kiss to his throat, delicately dragging my tongue across his smooth skin before gently sucking.
This piqued his full attention, and he looked down as I pulled up. My face was inches from his as I glanced at his mouth, and then kissed him softly.
His arm loosened from around my waist.
Seizing the opportunity, I lunged for the book and quickly rolled off him once I had it, leaping out of reach with a triumphant laugh.
Dean scoffed, rolling his tongue along his teeth as he slowly sat up. “That wasn’t very nice.”
I grinned innocently, tucking the book behind my back. Until he lunged and I squealed. I darted quickly around the back of the couch as he gave chase. But he was faster, more agile than I had expected, and vaulted over the back of the couch with ease.
I backed up towards the kitchen, about to run in the opposite direction when Dean pushed the arm of the couch into the kitchen counter, blocking my path before he stalked towards me.
“Don’t,” I giggled breathlessly.
“What?” He took his time with every step closer. His fingers twitched at his sides.
“You know exactly what.” My chest rose and fell rapidly before I ran to get past him, ducking under his arm and almost escaping to Kira’s bedroom when he caught me around the middle.
He pulled me backward into him, burying his face into the crook of my neck as he began his attack. Squeezing his fingertips into my sides as I laughed and writhed in his grip.
I gripped his forearm with one hand. My other was still holding onto the book as I giggled and gasped. “Okay, okay! Time out! I’ll tell you about the book.”
