Kendall started to reach down, to move to return the favor, but Alex caught her wrist. “It’s okay, sweetheart. This was about you.”
That pulled her out of her euphoria a tiny bit. She lifted her head. “Are you going for saintly status or something?”
“No.” His chuckle was a little strained. “Nothing like that. I said I’d make you feel good. I wasn’t part of the bargain.”
“And you say I’m a crappy bargainer.” No reason to feel hurt that he didn’t want her to make him come. None at all. But it didn’t stop the feeling from crawling through her. Was this just a pity orgasm? Another pity orgasm?
God, she really was that pathetic, wasn’t she?
Chapter 6
Alex wasn’t sure when things went so sideways, but as he lay there with Kendall in his arms and a set of blue balls for the record books, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. Every instinct he had about this woman was proving correct. Wound too tightly. In desperate need of letting go even more than he supposedly was. But once she did let go?
He shifted, even knowing damn well it wouldn’t do anything to relieve the aching of his cock. She’d had every intention of getting him off, but a strange part of him didn’t want this to be transactional. Tit for tat. He hadn’t been thinking about his pleasure when he towed her to the bed, and he sure as fuck hadn’t thought about getting his rocks off when he had his mouth all over her pussy, or when she came so hard that she about took his fingers off.
“You should probably go.” Kendall’s breath hitched, and Alex froze. Holy fuck, was she going to cry? Nowhere in how he thought this would play out did crying come into the picture.
Shit.
Shit.
Had he missed a sign? Had he just fucked up beyond belief?
Alex forced his body not to tense and kept his tone even. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“Nothing.” Kendall cleared her throat, and when she spoke again, she seemed to have herself better under control. “It’s nothing.”
His heart actually stopped. He was sure of it. “Doesn’t sound like nothing from where I’m sitting.”
“Then maybe you should change your perspective.”
There she was. He liked it when she showed her claws. Even knowing her as briefly as he had, Alex suspected she didn’t get snarly with people as a general rule. He couldn’t stop himself from running his fingers through her hair. “You having regrets?”
“No. It’s nothing like that.” But the wobble was back in her voice.
Damn it, she was having regrets. Alex stared at the ceiling, trying to weigh out the best path forward. Did he take off and give her time to find her footing again, or would that cause more damage than staying? He didn’t know. Hooking up wasn’t something he did much anymore, and never with someone like Kendall. When Alex needed his itch scratched, he found a partner who wanted the same thing. Someone who would be intent on their mutual pleasure, instead of worrying about the morning after.
Kendall wasn’t like that. As she kept telling him, she didn’t do this. Didn’t let go. Didn’t fuck around. Didn’t do any of it.
“You want to talk about it?”
She huffed and sat up. “If I did, I’d talk to my therapist, not to some random guy I met fewer than twenty-four hours ago.”
That stung, but he ignored it. “Fair enough.” He made a show of looking around. “I don’t see your therapist, so… next best thing?” Kendall still wouldn’t look at him, and actual fear curdled his stomach. “Kendall, sweetheart, talk to me. Did I… Did I hurt you?” He hadn’t thought so. She’d seemed like she’d enjoyed every second of it, and she’d definitely come, but he should have known better than to take her up on her offer when she was so clearly hurting from something. Even if Alex wasn’t the initial cause, he’d contributed to that pain.
“What?” She finally twisted to face him, a frown drawing her brows together. “Hurt me?”
Her honest confusion didn’t make him feel any better. “You were fine. Now you’re not. Only one thing has changed.” He waved a hand between them. “Hard not to draw conclusions from that.”
Some of her consternation cleared, and she sighed. “Alex, why don’t you want me?”
It took him a full five seconds to process her words, but they still didn’t make any sense. “Of course I want you.” When she still didn’t look convinced, he gave a choked laugh. “I about came in my pants just from you orgasming on my face.”
“Then why…” She made a vague wave at his cock, still standing at attention.
Comprehension dawned. It wasn’t the sex that fucked her up. She’d seen his turning down her offer as a rejection. “Kendall.” He waited for her to meet his gaze to continue. “I want you. I want you so fucking bad, it was everything I could do not to take you up on everything you offered and sink into that tight little pussy of yours until I can feel you come around my cock.”