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His jeans grew tight. After a couple of minutes, he broke the kiss.

“You sure this what you want?” he asked. He’d been watching. She was a little tipsy, but not too drunk to make up her own mind. Maybe just had her inhibitions lowered a little. He wouldn’t make a move on her now if it was up to him, but as long as this was what she wanted, what she was asking for, then he could go along with it.

Lauren’s gaze skimmed down his face, as if taking in what was in front of her.

“I’m sure.”

“Then I want to do this right. Not here.” He pulled her into his arms and stood. “Where’s your bedroom?”

“Through there, end of the hall.” She motioned with one hand, the other curling around his neck, as if half afraid he would drop her. He’d never do that. He wouldn’t have picked her up if he thought it was even a possibility. Watching and talking to her this evening he’d been certain he’d seen a spark. A bit of envy when she looked at Roadkill and Jenna, as if she wanted something like they had. He could give her at least part of that, he was sure.

Chapter Six

Lauren could barely believe what was happening to her. She’d never had anyone try to carry her. She’d only read about it, or rather listened, as she leaned toward audio books because she could listen to that while she did something else, whether it was housework or something with her hands in the evenings.

When Cypher laid her down on her bed, her heart began to race as she wondered if she’d left her dirty underwear on the floor or her make up strewn across the bathroom counter. Too late to worry about it now, she told herself. So what? She was a human and this was her home. She lay back and watched as he shrugged out of the leather cut her wore, folded, and draped it carefully over her dresser before pulling off his t-shirt revealing a torso covered with tattoos and coming back to her. She spotted the Savage Warriors logo on one bicep but didn’t have time to make out more than that before he leaned done and kissed her.

Lauren smoothed one hand up his torso, her fingers finding a nipple. Unable to resist, she flicked the tiny, taut button several times. Cypher’s hands went to her waist. He let it sit there, the heat of his hand making her hyper-aware of the touch. After a moment, he broke the kiss.

“Mind if we lose this?” He tugged at the thin material.

Instead of saying anything, Lauren unbuttoned it herself. He pulled her up enough she could slip the shirt off and toss it aside, then she unhooked her bra.

“You in a hurry, sweetheart?”

He covered her hand with one of his and guided it away from where she was working on removing her clothes.

“The reveal is part of the event, sweetheart’. Let me.” He bent and trailed feather light kisses along her collar bone, then down her torso. His every touch, every brush of his lips, his tongue, his fingertips, set her senses aflame. Her head went fuzzy and the rest of the world ceased to exist, at least as far as she cared.

When he pulled one puckered nipple into the heat of his mouth and sucked, her back arched and she cried out.

“Don’t stop.” Her hands come up to bury in his hair, sliding under the twists of the braid and against his scalp. She closed her eyes and gave in to the feelings rushing through her.

A cool breeze across her other nipple sent a shiver through her, but the heat of Cypher’s hand soon engulfed it. He kneaded the mound then pinched the puckered tip. Unable to stop herself, Lauren’s hips bucked against him, as if her body was trying to tell him what it needed and hoping he would figure it out.

His hands moved on her body. She wanted to arch into him, to encourage every touch. She didn’t know what he was doing to her, and at the moment, she didn’t care. It felt like every touch, every caress was amplified, as if something had made every nerve in her body come alive.

One hand found its way to his back. Her fingers curled as his hands trailed along her body, leaving what felt like tongues of flame licking along her senses. The firm muscles beneath her hand gave and moved as he did. She didn’t know if she’d ever been with anyone as well built as he was. And she hadn’t even gotten him out of his pants yet.

He moved away from her hands, not getting up, instead he trailed kisses, licks and sharps nips with his teeth down her body. When he reached the waistband of her slacks, he teased and licked along her belly for a moment then unbuttoned them. Lauren lifted her hips to make it easier as he worked them down her hips, then off her legs.

Sliding both hands up her legs, Cypher moved back up her body.

“You’re perfect, you know that?” he said, his voice reverent.

“I don’t know that I would say that. I could stand to lose some weight. I have too many places that bulge or jiggle.”

“Sweetheart, women are supposed to bulge and jiggle.” He dropped a gentle kiss on her rounded belly. “Only kids are stick skinny. All of this,” he smoothed one hand up the side of her thigh, then cupped her butt, “is proof that you’ve got more on your mind that pleasing people who don’t care by looking just right. You have a life, you have things you care about that aren’t spending hours in the gym. You’re perfect just the way you are.” He kissed the bulge of her belly again, then eased her thighs apart as he moved lower.

Lauren closed her eyes and refused to think about how unattractive she thought she was down there as his fingers parted her folds. Instead, she focused on how he made her feel. It wasn’t just the way Cypher touched her. But the way he talked to her too, like she mattered and how she felt about herself mattered. What kind of man did something like that for someone who was basically a stranger?

He nipped and teased and it felt good, but when Cypher’s mouth covered her clit, sucking hard for an instant before easing off the pressure, then repeating it, she almost came up off the bed. Her soul nearly left her body as every muscle she knew about, and some she didn’t, tensed. Her toes curled. Her fingers fisted in the comforter beneath her.

Lauren didn’t know how long it lasted but when her body finally relaxed and she could partly think, she looked down her body to find Cypher looking up at her.

“Still with me?”

“Yeah.” Her voice had gone thick and breathy.