“Deal.” I grabbed her hand and squeezed. “But you have to answer my question too… how do I look at you?”
“Well.” Her eyes darted toward my mouth. “You used to almost sneer when I’d walk into the room. Remember, we did almost kill each other planning Monica and Banks’s surprise party.”
The memory was painful.
Because it felt like that was what had triggered their deaths.
I hung my head. “I was jealous.”
“Jealous?”
“You’ve always been this free, beautiful thing, and I was always jealous that I couldn’t let myself be like that. I was irritated that you didn’t seem to care about responsibility, and yet Monica and Brooks trusted you with raising their children. And I was always the too-serious one, the one that tried to keep everything one way, only to have you bulldoze your way into a situation and have a better, more exciting idea. Sometimes I blamed you for taking my family from me. You know how close Monica and I were, and then you just… became a part of our family, seamlessly, easily. Everyone loves you, you know. So I made myself focus on things I knew would put walls between us, and you know what you did?”
A tear slid down her cheek. “What?”
I swiped it away with my thumb. “You forced your friendship on me like a homeless cat that decides it’s found its forever home.”
She gasped. “You compared me to a homeless cat? You sure you’re going to get laid tonight?”
“Yeah, I could have done better than that. It’s just—you’re just—how am I looking at you right now?” I asked for the third time.
Two more tears slid down her cheeks as she reached for my face and cupped my cheeks with her hands. “Like I’m yours.”
“For two seconds I could have sworn you were going to say ‘lobster.’”
“That too.” She sniffled. “Even when I wasn’t yours—I was yours, Rip.”
I have no clue what the hell she was going to say next because I was kissing her, parting her lips with my tongue, while she grabbed my shirt and tugged it open, sending buttons flying all over the room.
I moaned inside her mouth when her hands moved to the buttons of my pants, I kicked them down and pressed her back against the mattress, leaning over her, almost petrified to stop kissing her, fearful of missing her even though she was right there.
Needing more even though it was physically impossible. Energy pulsed between us, around us, igniting each touch of our mouths to something almost holy.
She pulled back, mouth swollen. “What do you see when I look at you?”
I reached for the waistband of her leggings and slowly rolled them down her thighs, tugging them completely off as I answered. “Love. Acceptance… with a side of annoyance that I’m pretty sure I’ll always see.”
She threw her head back and laughed, then grabbed my face and pulled me down for another kiss as I unclasped her bra, freeing those perfect breasts. Releasing her lips, I drew back, holding her gaze with mine until I had to look away. I dropped my eyes to her chest and stared in wonder. I reached out. A blast of heat surged through my body as I weighed her breasts with my hands; they spilled over my palms, and a shudder of desire engulfed my body. She shivered as her tongue darted out to wet her lower lip. Body throbbing, I laved the soft skin around her nipples, then sucked one into my mouth and released it with a pop, watching as her chest rose and fell in perfect chaotic cadence with my own breathing, my own heartbeat.
As I moved to pin her arms above her head, she evaded my grasp and dropped her hands. She brushed the pad of her thumb over my tip, and I nearly died.
I quickly reached for the nightstand and grabbed a condom. Her small hands continued exploring my length.
I growled, “Any more, and this is going to be over with before we start.”
She gave a long-suffering sigh and licked her lips. “Next time, then.”
“God, are you trying to kill me?”
“Yes.”
“Why am I not surprised?” I laughed, moving her hands away so I could roll the condom down.
I grasped her knees and pushed them apart, crawling up her body. Her eyes fluttered closed in ecstasy as I nudged her entrance.
“Please don’t be a tease in bed, please don’t be a tease in bed,” she muttered to herself.
“A little patience is good for you, Colby.” Where was my renowned self-control now? It had abandoned me, and I was being driven by something feral, some primal instinct that beat, Take her in time with my heart’s rhythm.