“Christian?” Her voice interrupted his thoughts.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I said you don’t have to sleep on this couch; I know how uncomfortable it is. I trust you,” she said, turning to look at him.
Her words cut him like a knife. She shouldn’t trust him. Just today he told her about an entire side of his life that she hadn’t known about. And there was more. Her family situation was a large part of who she was and yet he was keeping things from her.
“You shouldn’t trust me. You don’t know me.” His words were deathly quiet, but managed to slice through the thick silence.
Mallory turned around to face him. Sitting up on her knees, she placed her hands on his thighs for balance. “Explain.”
“You know I’d never do anything or keep anything from you to hurt you, right?”
Her blue eyes somehow shined brighter as she tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth and watched him cautiously. Selfishly,he memorized everything about her gorgeous face just in case it was the last time he got to appreciate her from up close.
“Whatever it is, just tell me,” she whispered.
He wanted to be honest. He wanted to tell her everything. He did. But when her blue eyes searched his, he would have done anything to make sure he never lost the chance to hold her in his arms and look into her eyes again. A partial truth wasn’t a lie.
“I’m pretty sure I know who your brother is. Is he the reason why you chose not to get into emergency services?” Not a lie.
Her breathing faltered. “Yes.”
“At this point, it feels ridiculous that I have to ask you this. You’re Michael’s sister? Is your last name Hunt?” He closed his eyes and waited for her response.
When he opened his eyes, she had lowered herself to the ground. Her eyes were closed, and she appeared to be holding on tight to the last shreds of her composure. Slow measured breaths were the only visible movements she made.
“Yes,” she breathed. “Did you know that this entire time? Do you work with him?”
Chris wasn’t sure how much he should say. He wanted her to know there was a connection, but how would she react knowing they were relatively close? He couldn’t lie to her, but maybe complete honesty wasn’t the best path.
“Yes, I know him from work. I wasn’t sure, but I know he has a sister who he has no contact with. I also know he lost his mom. I didn’t want to say anything, but I can’t lie to you,” he explained. “Is that a problem? I know you didn’t ask, but he’s never said anything bad about you.”
Mallory cast her gaze downward. Chris used two fingers to tilt her chin up so she would meet his gaze. She briefly looked at him before closing her eyes.
“It’s not a problem. I’m not surprised you know who he is. I just need to know if you knew the entire time. Secrets are the one thing I can’t handle.”
Chris rested his forehead against hers. “I didn’t know. I only recently put the pieces together. But we’re just us. None of that means anything as far as we are concerned.”
Mallory sat up and held his face in her hands, taking him by surprise when she covered his mouth with hers. Desperate for contact, he pulled her up until she was in his lap straddling him, her soft heat pressing against him. When she rocked against him, they both shuddered.
He gripped her tighter and held her to him, grinding against her until she trembled beneath him. He was able to feel her heat through her shorts, but it wasn’t enough. Loosening his hold, he slipped a hand into her shorts and slid his fingers against her wetness. She cursed under her breath and repositioned herself, giving him better access.
She was soaking wet and gasped in surprise when he slipped a finger into her tight core. It was his turn to curse under his breath. He’d taken sex off the table, but as he became uncomfortably hard, the only way he wasn’t going to find out how tight she fit around his cock was if she was the one to put a stop to it.
Gripping her ponytail, he angled her head to grant himself full access to her mouth. She gasped in surprise when he tugged her bottom lip between his teeth and moaned when he used his tongue to soothe where he nipped.
“Christian, please,” she breathed as she rocked against his hand. “More.”
He added another finger and increased the motion even as he silently begged her to put a stop to things. Lord knew he needed to stop, but as she sighed into his neck and her pussy clenchedaround his fingers, there would be no stopping. He was only human.
He gently nipped at her ear before trailing warm kisses down her neck, stopping to concentrate on the space just above her collarbone when she began to tremble in his arms. She cried out when he bit and then sucked on that very spot.
“Do you want to come?” he asked her.
“Yes. Please.”
He went still, the only movement coming from his ragged breathing. “Do you want to come on my hand or on my cock?”
