“It’s not all bad. You could pass for a cheerleader.” His smile widens when he passes his key card over the pad next to my door.
“Do they even have those anymore? Or did they die with the rest of civilization?” So much has changed since the virus, I don’t think anything will ever be the same again.
“Hmm. I wouldn’t know. I rarely stalk high schools.” He runs his fingers through his whiskers and points to the touch of gray near his ear, kicking off a faint ammonia odor.
He must not know I can smell the dye on him, or zero in on the tiny powdering flakes that cling to each fiber of hair.
I wonder if he thinks I’m too stupid to notice?
Maybe once upon a time, when I really was a teenager, beforeAlex. But that was also prior to every synapse in my brain firing perfectly.
A secret I’ve never shared. It may come in handy someday.
“So why did Veronica show you that? She isn’t exactly known for her overly kind personality.” He settles over the stool in the corner, his thick thighs spreading as his feet brace him against the wall.
“She wanted more details abouthim.” I remember every inch of him, and how he felt.
Even the barbs that would lock him in place when he climaxed and the tiny bit of sting that would surge me to new heights of my own.
What I wouldn’t give to have him fill me one last time.
Fuck.
Hudson’s nostrils flare and I can hear his heart accelerate.
Ain’t gonna happen buddy. You’re one of the bad guys.
“What did you tell her?” He shifts, forcing his pressed pants into a deeper crease around his crotch.
I might torture him a little. One of these days I’ll push him too far and he may lose control.
That will be the day I try to escape.
Unplugging the IV that practically lives attached to me, I strip off my shirt and scrub pants, then flip on the shower.
When I turn, I’m fully naked in front of him. “I told her, what I do in the bedroom is my business.” My fingers thrum a rapid staccato over my tight nipples. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
His pause in breathing speaks volumes. The golden flecks of his irises widen until his pupil is a pinpoint of obsidian in a violent mahogany sea. “Jesus, Jen. You’re a cruel woman.” Heshakes his head and runs his broad palm over his square jaw, then over his eyes.
Blinding himself with the cover of his fingers.
The chill of the tile slaps lightly against the soles of my feet as I pad closer to him and thread myself between his muscled calves to touch my lips to the back of his hand. “I can be anything you want. It’s your rule that keeps you sitting there,” I whisper, kissing each knuckle before I flick my tongue between the length of his longest fingers. “Haven’t you ever been tempted to—” I press my hips into the bulge of his crotch. “—take me?”
“Fuck,” he groans as a trickle of sweat hovers at his temple and crests along the silver tint of his beard. “Every. Fucking. Day.”
His hot palms grip my arms and he forcibly moves me out of his proximity, then he stands.
When I’m this close, he towers over me.
And once in a while, when he’s especially worked up like he is now, I catch the lightest of scent that reminds me of Alex.
It’s a toxic addiction, pushing Hudson to the point of cracking, just so I can catch the tail of the dragon…the high of a man I once knew.
A man whose cruelty knew no limits, but my body yearns for as if I can’t take another breath without him.
“I have to go, Jen. I’m glad you got to see your boy.” Hudson scrambles backwards, reaching for the keypad.
When I’m bathed in the silence of his departure, I replay the video over and over while I shower.
