This was a bad idea. An epic, colossally horrific idea.
He was probably sleeping anyway. All his talk downstairs had no doubt been just that—talk. He wasn’t as worked up as I was. Didn’t come up here and stroke himself off to the thought of me using my toy. Wasn’t climbing the walls, thanks to this insatiable craving under his skin. A craving that just wouldn’t go away.
He’d probably been asleep for hours and wouldn’t even know I’d made this little slipup. I could just?—
“Don’t even think about leaving, trouble.” Atlas’s low rumble cut through the silence.
I froze mid-step, standing there in nothing but his flannel while I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness because I couldn’t see a damn thing.
He, apparently, didn’t have any such problem. “You think you can walk in here wearing my shirt and I’m going to let you leave before I find out what you have on underneath it?”
I swallowed thickly and turned back toward him. “That’s pretty forward of you.”
“Oh, are we going for subtle now? I thought you’d tossed that out the window when you opened my door.” There was a rustle of fabric and then a soft click as the light from his bedside lamp softly illuminated the space.
While I’d been able to make out the vague shape of Atlas in his bed, now I had an unobstructed view of him. With his chest bare, the white sheet pooling low across his hips, he sat leaning back against the dark wood headboard, his gaze locked on me.
And mygod, he was a sight.
He looked so fucking sexy sitting there, his hair in disarray, his eyes heavy—with sleep or lust, I wasn’t sure. I wanted to stroke my fingers over the dark hair on his chest, wanted to trace that path all the way down to where that intimidating bulge taunted me from below the sheet. Wanted to use those massive shoulders for leverage as I sank down on his substantial length and rode us both to sleep.
While I’d been soaking in every inch of his glorious body, he’d been doing the same, his attention never straying from me. His gaze ghosted over me from head to toe, that bulge only growing more prominent as he did so, and I couldn’t deny the heady feeling that gave me. Knowing I was affecting him.
It was all too intense. The fact that he was there, shirtless—arguably naked—and I was over here without any panties onlike a fucking idiot. I’d come in here without any armor. Nothing keeping me from strolling straight over to his bed, climbing astride him, and taking that thick cock inside me.
In an effort to distract myself, I averted my eyes, my gaze bouncing around the room and cataloging everything in quick succession. The framed picture on his dresser of Atlas with three other men and a woman—his brothers and mom, no doubt—the well-worn baseball hat with the high school’s logo tossed on the chair in the corner, and the familiar romance book on his nightstand, each giving a glimpse into the real him. The one he seemed to keep locked up tight.
“What are you doing in my room, and why are you still standing all the way over there?” he asked, his voice just a soft rumble in the otherwise quiet house.
Because it was infinitely safer this way.
Instead, I said, “I couldn’t sleep. And I think a better question is, why do you have a copy of the book I’m reading on your nightstand?”
“Coincidence,” he said without hesitation.
“Uh-huh.” I breathed out a laugh and shook my head, narrowing my eyes at him. “You really weren’t fucking with me that night out by the pool, were you? You knew exactly what chapter those four mobsters finally put her out of her misery and fucked her.”
He grunted. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, come over here.”
As if my body were controlled by his voice alone, I walked toward him, reveling in the way his gaze tracked my every step. My nipples pebbled under his scrutiny, the way his attention snagged on the hem of his shirt, making my clit throb.
And I hoped to god he was going to do something about that.
Once I stood next to his bed, he reached out, placing his rough palm against my bare leg, just below his shirt. “Here’swhat’s going to happen, trouble. I’m going to slide my hand under this shirt of mine you decided to wear to sleep. If I find out you came in here with a bare pussy, I’m going to throw you down on the bed and put that sweet little cunt to good use.”
My breath caught in my throat, and I had to force myself not to clench my legs together at the promise, knowing he’d feel my reaction.
“But,” he continued, gaze never straying from mine, “if I find out you’re wearing panties, I’ll send you on your way. You can go back to your room, and we don’t have to talk about this ever again. Deal?”
I should have told him no. Should’ve just turned around and walked out because I knew he wouldn’t have stopped me. I should’ve headed back to my room, taken a gummy, and hoped it would finally lull me into sleep.
Instead, I said, “Let’s say you don’t find anything under this shirt… Aren’t you worried about the rules?”
“Fuck the rules. Now, do we have a deal or not?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
ATLAS
