“Too many rules, Brighton,” she muses as I finish and shut off the water. I step out of the shower, extending a towel to her, and then wrap one around my waist.
“Rules exist for a reason,” I say. “And we’re already breaking a handful.” I watch the water slide down her body, coating her tattoos in a slick shine.
“With that logic, breaking a few more won’t hurt anyone,” she argues softly, and I smile, shaking my head gently before running my fingers through my hair to release the knots. I wander out of the bathroom and to my room, waiting for the sound of her quiet footsteps.
“You have the logic of a thirteen-year-old boy,” I grumble, digging around in my dresser as she enters the bedroom.
“I’ve been patient,” Rhea says from behind me, and my muscles tense. “Please don’t make me wait longer.”
There’s a need in her voice when she says it, one that I know I can’t resist. When I turn, she’s still in her towel, skin damp, eyes watching and waiting for me to make up my mind. Frustration and desire churn beneath my skin as I shift, hard at the sight of her. “I’m trying to be responsible, Rhea.”
“Lame excuse,” she says. “Ten minutes ago, you were flirting, cleaning up messes with your tongue, and making out with me like we’re teenagers.” She steps further into my room, “Where’d that Brighton go?”
My eyes follow her as she approaches. “I got carried away,” I admit.I was horny and an idiot. I wanted a release, but I don’t want this to be just that.I stare at her. “Look where it got us.”
“I’m happier than I've ever been, right where I am,” Rhea argues with those infuriatingly sad eyes. She means here, with me, and I’m just too stubborn to believe it. I know that. She does too, that's why she asks, “Aren’t you?”
I had lost this fight the second she laid them on me that night in the Hollow. I’m not even sure I ever wanted to win the battle against her; it’s just been easier to pretend I did. A grumble of frustration rumbles at the base of my throat as I stand and walk toward her.
“You know I am,” I say with conviction and surprise myself.
“Then prove it,” Rhea demands gently. She’s through tiptoeing around my need to take it slow, around my manners and chivalry. She’s sick of being friends who kiss.
Before I can even stop myself, I’m closing the distance between us. The towel around my waist slips to the ground as I pull her close. Our lips collide in a hungry kiss, so much more needy than before as I pull at her towel with one hand and dip down to raise her against my waist with the other.
Rhea tangles her fingers into my wet hair as I slam the door closed, keeping her lips on mine as I walk back to the bed and lay her down. My body presses against hers, hands roaming her body in a desperate need to memorize how it feels beneath me. She chases me with her lips as I break away, but I dip down against her neck, teeth grazing her skin just enough to make her body shudder against mine.
“That feels good,” she encourages, and my body reacts like I’ve never touched a woman before. My grip tightens around her thigh, and her giggle turns to a throaty moan. I push her open with my knee, settling down between her as I continue to kiss over every inch.
“Tell me if I’m going too fast.” I look up at her, and she’s staring down at me, her breathing ragged and her lips red from mine.
“Brighton, you’re going too slow,” she says, and I nod.
I can take an order, and I take them well. Probably too well.
My movements slow only for a moment, my face pressing against her thigh as I breathe out heavily. Her voice, so needy and demanding, would be the death of me. I bite gently there, feeling her body react before continuing downward. I push her legs wider, making room for my shoulders, and pepper her damp skin with more kisses.
“Yeah,” she breathes out, and I can tell she’s fighting an inner monologue with herself. “You don’t have to do that…”
“What?” I mumble against her skin.
“Go down on me…” she mumbles, and I grumble a string of curses between her legs.
“Rhea.” I snap, “Do you want me to?” I ask, not looking up at her.
“I…” she clears her throat. “Doyouwant to?”
“Do I want to eat my ridiculously hot roommate out until she begs me to stop?” I smirk, kissing her thigh. “Yes.”
“Oh…” She inhales. “Okay. Carry on.”
“Thank you,” I say before returning to what I was doing.
“Wait,” she huffs. “Wait. Wait.” She reaches down and cups my chin, angling my face up to her again and interrupting the string of gentle kisses and bites I’m dealing to her inner thigh.
“What?” I scowl.
“I just owe the girls money.” She stares at me, realizing something she refuses to share.
