Kieran McCullough had just told Sammie to take her pants off.
She hadn’t imagined the moment playing out quite like this, but Sammie sure wasn’t going todenyhim.
Her sweatpants were off and flying across the room in a heartbeat.
At least they matched, him in his black briefs, her in her plain black cotton panties. They were nothing special, but the cut of the fabric did make her ass lookgreat.
Kieran’s hand was still around her wrist. He sat on the end of the bed tugging her close. “The camera’s already going.” Sammie was between his legs, the bulge in his underwear right there. She panicked, finally looking up and meeting his stare.
“Still good?” His eyes were warmer than usual, maybe from the heat building between them, maybe in an attempt to calm her. Spring grass, fresh and promising. He had his hair down, something Sammie rarely saw, since it was usually pulled back for games. His curls were loose, tucked back behind his ears, more golden than strawberry under the daylight spilling in through the single window. Until he plopped that same blackball cap onto his head, the one Sammie had already seen when she’d discovered his content. Her mouth went dry.
“Still good.” Sammie watched his eyes trail down her body until they landed on the tattoo branching down her leg.
The black ink started at her hip, a mass of vining limbs and branches, creeping and spreading down over her thigh to just above the knee. Leaves bloomed from every branch. The lower leaves were plain, blank, empty. The ones higher on her leg, though, those leaves were full of words.
Kieran’s hand landed at her hip, his thumb brushing the crease there, running over some of the words.
“What are they?”
His hands and eyes on her had her heart threatening to burst from her chest, her blood steaming in her veins. “They’re book quotes.” He ran a hand along the tattoo, reading several of the leaves, following them down until he arrived at the blank ones. “Every time I fall in love with a new book, it gets a leaf.”
“They’re beautiful.”
Sammie smiled, warmth blooming along her limbs. “Thank you.” Kieran was still studying the ink, and despite the fact that his attention on her felt like a pressure she would never be ready for, something about the whole situation, the way he was fixating on something she loved and was proud of, it helped to calm her. Just a bit, but maybe enough that she really would survive what they were about to do.
“This time…” Kieran pulled his gaze away from her leg, looking up at her. Sammie quite liked being able to look down at him. “Why don’t you just follow my lead?’
She gulped, nodding.
“And you’ll tell me if you want to stop?”
Another nod.
“I need you to say it, Sammie.”
Her name on his tongue, it was like a firework in her chest. “I’ll tell you if I want to stop.”
Silence fell, a bubble ready to burst.
Kieran’s hands were back at her hips, gently pulling her forward. Sammie let herself be moved, until her knees hit the mattress between his legs. His callouses rasped against her thighs. “Up.”
Sammie climbed into his lap, hoping the movement was elegant enough for the camera. She couldn’t forget that it was there, a presence in the back of her mind, constant and watching. But it wasn’t intimidating, not like she’d expected it to be. Instead, Sammie felt a rush of something fizzy and bright, an excitement that swelled every time she remembered they were being recorded.
Seated in Kieran’s lap, his hands slowly caressing up and down her thighs, Sammie tried to relax. She wanted to touch him, every part of him that was spread before her. And hewastouching her, so it was only fair, right?
Kieran’s breath hitched as she placed a palm on his chest. His hair was rough under her palm, thick and curly, leading to a thin trail that disappeared into his briefs. She let her fingers slide down his front, watching as the muscles of his abdomen tensed at her touch.
“Good.” His voice was a deep whisper, his breath hot against her face. In his lap, they were eye to eye. It was equalizing, in a way.
Sammie supposed this would normally be the part that would lead to kissing. And god, she wanted to kiss him. More than anything. Kieran was so close, a wall of heat beneath her, in front of her, sucking her in.
But kissing… that would make it too real. Which was why she’d set her rule. A way to keep a barrier between them, onethat she’d known she would need to set in place for her own good.
That didn’t make it any easier though, not when Kieran looked like sin in those black briefs and was so close she could practically taste him already.
Sammie shifted. Just the thought of his lips on hers sent heat pooling between her thighs. Kieran sucked in a sharp breath at her movement. She could feel him under her, half hard, twitching with need.
Sex had always been easy for Sammie. She liked it, she was good at it. She knew how to read her partners. Kieran might have told her to follow his lead, but Sammie recognized all the signs she’d received just from that small shift of her hips.
