“Why?”
“Several reasons.”
“Give me one.”
“We’re not very compatible.”
He scoffs. “We’retoomuchalike. You said yourself we have similarities.” He doesn’t elaborate, just watches me with that sharp, lawyerly stare that feels like he’s dissecting every breath I take. “Look, I get that neither of us have much time, but I can’t get you out of my head and I don’t think it’s chance that we keep running into each other.”
“We didn’t run into each other tonight; you drove out here.”
He laughs and I squeeze his dick harder in my fist. “Please. Just think about it, okay? Don’t shoot it down right away. Don’t get stuck in your head coming up with all the reasons why it’s a bad idea to see me again and not just for a hook-up. I want to take you on a date sometime.”
I hesitate, searching his face for an out. Then I nod. Because tonight’s not about having the tough conversations with him. “Okay.”
His mouth curves into a smile. “Good. Now get back to sucking.” He presses a warm palm to the back of my head, nudging me downward playfully.
“Hey,” I laugh, but I oblige—licking across the tip of him, slow and taunting. He groans, deep and raw, so I do it again, wrapping my lips around the head of his cock while my hands work the rest of him. He’s too thick to take all of him into my mouth at once.
“Fuck, you’re good at that,” he rasps, as I sink down again, choking lightly around him while dragging my nails along his thighs.
I pull up, swirl my tongue, taste salt and skin and him. He groans. “Again.”
So, I do it again. And again. But even as my body moves on instinct, my mind drifts—to the last time I felt this close and comfortable with someone. The last time I was held. Hartford. Cain. Always, him.
The last time I let myself be vulnerable. When sex wasn’t about distraction, but connection. Also, Cain.
The last time I enjoyed giving as much as I received. Cain.
It’s maddening, how every good and carefree memory from this past year leads back to him. The man I told myself I’d forget after one night together. The man who I didn’t tell any truths so I wouldn’t get attached somehow knows more about me than anyone has since my parents died.
Yet there are still things I’ll never share. Not with him. Not with anyone other than my family. Because some things are too painful to rehash.
“Fuck, Rhiannon,” he groans, tightening beneath my palm. I feel the pulse in his cock, the tension building.
I suck harder, move faster, choking, gasping, spitting, the way I know he likes. He curses, stiffens, and then he’s coming, his body jerking beneath mine.
I take it all, swallowing, holding him until he’s spent and still.
When he pulls me up, he surprises me, cradling me against his chest, his breath hot at my neck. The tenderness catches me off guard. His fingers drag up and down my back, soothing me. It’s one of those soft moments that couples would do and not the behavior of two people purely in this for sex.
“Tell me a truth about you that sounds so crazy people would think it’s a lie.”
I lift up to look at him. He’s smiling at me. The tiredness from earlier in his penthouse long gone. I wonder if this is his way of getting to know me outside of sex.
And maybe I should make up a lie to keep some distance, but a part of me wants to give in. Wants to sayfuck itand just enjoy being taken care of by a man who’s wild about me. Wants to have these simple, silly moments that couples have after sex when they’re laying together in bed, talking about their days and making up stories.
I’ve never had that with any past boyfriends, but I want it with Cain tonight.
“Growing up, Natasha and I were best friends because we were so close in age. When she was a baby, her parents realized that she was allergic to peanuts. Like deathly allergic.”
“Damn.”
I nod. “She always had to have an EpiPen on her and she had a few close calls the first couple years. Now, she’s just mindful about what she consumes and cooks for herself, though working in a restaurant can be challenging at times.”
“I can imagine.”
“So, since we were best friends, I boycotted peanuts too. So, for twenty-eight years, I’ve never tasted peanuts or peanut butter.”
