I’m going to get burned.
And then, suddenly, it’s over, and I know I’m free. I can move away from him and get some air. Some space. It’s desperately needed.
“I’ll make this up to you.”
He seems so despondent that I freeze. My hand reaches out and brushes some of the wet strands from his forehead. A dangerous game to play.
He blinks, his eyes slightly unfocused.
“Just rest, okay? I’ll be here if you need me.” I shouldn’t offer that. I shouldn’t offer more than I can give, but my fingers linger a little too long, and when I finally move to pull them away, he reaches out and holds them to his face.
They spread, cupping his cheek.
My heartbeat ratchets up, an impossible feeling weaving its way through me.
“Don’t stop,” he whispers desperately, longingly.
I can’t breathe. I need to leave, to run, but I can’t move.
All my mouth does is form a promise that I’ll stay. And I do. I fucking stay.
He eventually falls asleep, and I peel myself away from him.
I do it reluctantly, berating myself the entire time as I tuck myself under my own covers and curl up beneath them. My eyes finally close, and I dream of him, the angles of his face, the shape of his body.
His legs. His ass and cock.
“Whit. I want you. Whit.”
My eyes shoot open, and I see someone looming over me. My heart, which was already thrumming, speeds up.
It’s Caleb. He’s completely naked, hovering over my bed like an apparition.
“Hell,” I murmur as I sit upright, my hand rubbing at my aching chest, my eyes moving everywhere but him.
“You okay?” I manage to ask.
“I’m so…fucking cold. Can’t…stop shaking.”
I peer up at him and see the tremble vibrating through his limbs. His teeth chatter, and I know I shouldn’t. I definitely should not.
But my arm peels the sheets back, and his eyes dart to them.
“Come here.”
His gaze darts down to his dick and then back to me.
“I’m naked.”
If I need to convince this straight man to get into bed with me, I won’t do it. I’ll let him go back to his bed, even tuck him in. But before I can even get up to do that, he crawls in next to me. The scent of him travels over me, wrapping me in a cocoon I may never escape.
I pull the covers over both of us, and I half-expect him to roll to face the wall, but what he does next makes my entire body stiffen.
He rolls himself onto me, wrapping himself around me. His leg flings over my thigh, his arms wrapped around my torso. I hold my breath, sure that he’ll realize what he’s doing and leave.
But he doesn’t. He only holds on tighter.
Then his face tucks against my shoulder, and I feel the tip of his cold nose hit my skin. He sighs happily as I lie there, unsure of what to do, of where to go. How can I hide from a man who is intent on suffocating me? Who is draped over me, breathing warmth into me?
