“What? What is it?” I question, watching her closely for any sign of discomfort.
She bites her lip before squinting down at me for the longest second, only then shattering my thoughts when she asks, “Is this an activity I have to wear a shirt for?”
Hell, I almost swallow my tongue, because I know there’s nothing beneath that shirt. That would mean I’ll have a partially naked Maddie lying on top of me, and honestly, I don’t know if my willpower is that strong.
I guess there’s only one way to find out.
My head is a little jerky when I shake it in answer, my voice carrying a hint of a rasp that wasn’t there before when I say, “Lie however you feel most comfortable. If that’s without a shirt, then I promise you won’t hear a single complaint from me.”
Maddie laughs suddenly, her head falling back with the force of it, her blue hair spilling down her back in waves. She rests her hands on my raised knees for balance, and I can donothing but sit back and watch, swallowing hard when I run my gaze over every inch of her. There might be every chance my eyes linger in places they shouldn’t, but it can’t be helped. It’s like offering a steak to a lion and expecting him not to eat it, and I’m currently battling a hunger like I’ve never felt before.
But battle it I will, because I have more than enough respect for Maddie and would never cross boundaries between us. Unless she gives me the go-ahead, I’m more than happy to simply take a few sneaky peeks and nothing more.
So, when her head drops and she looks down at me with stunning eyes that glitter with joy and amusement, I feel my chest fill with warmth and something else I can’t quite place.
It’s me laughing next when she teases, “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind.”
“I’m a guy, trouble. There isn’t a scenario in the world where I would turn down holding my girlfriend while she’s bare from the waist up so I can tickle her back,” I point out, enjoying the little back and forth between us.
“Well, in that case…” she chuckles, right before she shocks the ever-loving shit out of me, leaving me stunned in place and unable to do anything but gape at the beauty before me.
Her shirt is over her head before I can catch my next breath, revealing her upper body to my greedy eyes. There isn’t an ounce of embarrassment, shyness, or discomfort coming from her, and I feel like the king of the damned world when I realize she’s more than at ease with me. She’s comfortable allowing herself to be vulnerable, revealing herself to me like it’s just another day.
Blowing out a shaky breath, my gaze soaking in every inch of revealed skin like I’ve never seen a woman’s body before in my life, I jokingly rasp, “You’re a test of a man’s self-control, trouble. Now come here before I make things weird.”
She laughs, and I’m hypnotized by the sight of her pert breasts swaying with the movement, even more so when she leans forward and drops her body on top of mine. While she gets comfortable on top of me, I’m chewing on my fist, trying to ignore how good it feels to have her pressed against me. It doesn’t work, and I already know the situation in my pants is about to become an issue.
Sure enough, it’s not even a minute later before Maddie quips, “Is that a fake wooden dick or are you just happy to see me?”
“Jesus Christ,” I snicker, unable to feel an ounce of shame, because there is absolutely nothing shameful about the way Maddie makes me feel. It’s a simple reaction to having her gorgeous body lying on top of mine, her warmth seeping through my shirt, the curve of her body molding against mine like it was designed to fit me perfectly. Fuck, if that didn’t make me hard, then I’d worry I had some problems I’d need to work through.
Wiping a hand over my face, I instruct, “Just ignore it.”
“Hard to do when it’s digging into my stomach, but I’ll give it the good old college try,” she tosses back, and I drop my head back against the arm of the couch with yet another laugh that has her upper body bouncing up and down in ways I didn’t need to witness. It certainly isn’t helping the hard-on I’m now rocking, but that’ll just have to wait until I’m alone in the shower.
“If you want your back tickled, I need you to relax and pretend that you’re not lying on my dick, okay?” I demand roughly, amusement and a very obvious dose of arousal bleeding into my words. I’m so screwed for this girl that it would be funny if it were any of the other guys.
“Sir, yes, sir,” she agrees with that smart-ass tone I enjoy hearing from her, and she settles against me easily.
Maddie tucks her head beneath my chin, her ear resting against where she no doubt hears my rapid heartbeat, but she says nothing as she sighs. Her body melts into me that little bit more and, with the focus of a man doing his best to keep a lid on his rampant hormones that have suddenly awoken like sleeper agents, I start tickling Maddie’s back. My fingers glide over her smooth, creamy skin in soft strokes, tracing random patterns and following looping paths along her spine and shoulder blades.
A soft moan slips out of her mouth, the hum of it vibrating from her chest and through mine, and I bite my lip and close my eyes as I continue to run my fingers all over her back. I’m counting backward from a hundred, reciting stock news I read earlier today, and planning dinner for tomorrow in order to keep my mind focused on making her feel more at ease, but it’s as though Maddie is on a mission to break me, more of those sweet little moans slipping out of her mouth as if to tease me into folding faster than a fitted sheet under pressure.
I’ll be damned to the underbelly of hell if it isn’t working, too.
I’m not sure how long I handle the sexy sounds she keeps making, how long I manage to tickle her back without pouncing on her like a starved animal. What I do know is that I’m harder than I’ve ever been in my life, my thoughts are rapidly turning feral, and I’m on the brink of shaming myself when Maddie starts wriggling on top of me with a renewed restlessness that is making my life hell.
“Do you have more unresolved wiggles?” I ask her through a strain I can’t hide.
She doesn’t answer for a long moment, and I wonder if she’s going to ignore me. That is, until she finally says, “I’m curious. How much wiggling would it take for you to resolve them?”
I frown, damn near sweating from how hard it’s proving to control my baser urges when it comes to Maddie. Apparently, all of the blood has flown south for the foreseeable, because I can’t decipher her words to save my life. My cock is throbbing now, and I can’t seem to think of much else other than the ache that is quickly forming.
“I thought I was resolving them,” I laugh mirthlessly.
Maddie laughs, and it’s only then that I realize her voice has taken on a slight husky quality it didn’t possess before. A husky tone that sounds almost sensual, a sexy rasp to her words that has my mind firing shots all through my skull.
Is… is she telling me she’s struggling, too? What is happening right now?
