After a Snickers bar.
I grabbed the candy bar and broke it in half then offered her the still-wrapped portion.
She took it, trading it for the box of condoms.
I set the box on the bedside table before sitting beside her. “Stay tonight.”
She looked down at her candy and fiddled with the wrapper. “I really shouldn’t.”
“We’ve already taken the plunge. No going back now.”
The corner of her mouth tipped up. “That’s true.” She took a bite of the candy and peeked around me. “Are those potato chips?”
“Why, yes, they are.”
“Gimme.”
I grinned and handed them over. “So, that means I can have the Doritos?”
“Maybe. Only if you brush your teeth.”
I leaned in and nipped a kiss before she could pop a chip in her mouth. “Deal.”
I stood and went to my new suitcase and pulled out a vintage concert T-shirt for her. She took it gratefully and pulled it on.
I picked up three different bottles of soda. “I wasn’t sure of your—okay, Dr. Pepper it is.”
She cracked the seal. “I pretty much drink coffee or Diet Coke but since it’s here.” She took a long swallow and sighed. “My mom loved this stuff. I used to scrape together tip money for her twelve-pack cans. Sometimes I’d sneak a can for myself.”
Scraped?
I had so many questions. Little slips from her about a less than stellar childhood made me ache for her. My household growing up had been noisy and full of laughter. A lot of fighting too. Far too many boys in one house meant a lot of strife in between pranks and enough laundry to ensure my mom taught me to be self-sufficient from an early age.
But being self-sufficient was a big difference from what she was talking about.
She popped another chip in her mouth with a sigh. “Didn’t realize I was so hungry.”
“We sort of skipped dinner.”
She peered into the snack-sized bag. “Not a big deal.”
Now I felt like an asshole. I hadn’t even fed her, for God’s sake. We’d been wrapped up in each other and caught up in the push and pull of attraction. Food definitely hadn’t been at the top of my menu. “Is that diner near the park an all-night kind of deal?”
“Normally, but with the festival, not so much.”
“Ahh.”
“Don’t worry about feeding me, Callum. I’m more of a small meals and snacks kind of woman. When you work as many jobs as I have, snagging food between shifts is the norm.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way.”
She dug into the bag for the last chip then licked the tips of her fingers. “You’re right, but I like my life this way. And working full-time at the salon probably won’t change the eating on the run thing.”
I leaned in and caught a salty kiss. “Or how about a very thoughtful partner who brings his girl dinner for her breaks?”
She smiled into another kiss. “Sounds pretty nice.”
The fact that I could picture that so easily made my chest burn. I rolled her under me on the bed. “I’ll make it up to you with a huge breakfast.”
She didn’t answer me, just welcomed me into her arms with a greedy kiss.
Snacks, dinner, and anything else fell out of my head. Her salty taste made me crave more. I slid my hand up under the T-shirt, coasting my fingertips over her silky flesh. I nipped her chin as my thumb rolled over her tight nipple. They were so damn sensitive. She’d practically crawled out of her skin the moment I touched her.
It only made me want to draw out every damn touch. I’d rushed the first time. Feeling her come apart under my mouth had put me on a one-way collision with impatience. My singular focus had been getting that clasping warmth around me.
I’d almost climbed on her without protection. At the last minute, I’d remembered my wallet and the sole condom in there. And the only reason I had one was because of my brother’s sense of humor. Hudson had stuck a trio in my stocking last year. And yeah, a year’s worth of sex left me with just one.
Again, every part of this situation so wasn’t me.
But I wanted it to be. I wanted to hold onto this feeling for longer than just a night. She was worth more than a few stolen hours. I needed to show her that.
I slowed down each touch until her sighs ended in my name. Her legs shifted under me until she could curl one around my hip, dragging me in closer.
“You’re killing me,” she said as she bit my earlobe. “Inside me. Use that lovely wrapped present, dammit.”
“You want my present?”
She rolled her eyes, but there was laughter dancing in those dark depths. She slipped her hand between us and into my jeans. “If I say yes, will you get the show on the road?”
“Why are you in such a hurry?”
In lieu of an answer, she used some damn impressive muscles to flip me over. She shoved up the thermal shirt I’d been wearing and went for my zipper. “Where’s that box?”
I groaned and lifted my hips to help her get a better hold on me. I fumbled for the box next to us, and she plucked it out of my hands. Before I could say her name, she had the foil ripped and was rolling it down my cock.
She climbed on me and slid slowly down my length. I groaned at her perfect heat and could only hold on. Her head fell back, and her nipples were rock hard against the vintage Hysteria shirt I’d purchased the night before. The shirt that I’d never wear without thinking about this moment.
I shifted so I could sit up and get a taste of her. I pushed at the soft cotton and found her even softer skin. I sucked on one taut tip and tugged at the other until she straightened and met my gaze. Her hair was a halo of honey-brown waves, and her teeth were scoring her lower lip.
I thrust up into her, and the sounds she’d been holding back tumbled free with my name wrapped in a sigh. I banded my arms around her back and held her against me, tipping her hips forward to get deeper. I’d climb inside her if I could. “God, you feel good. So wet and warm,” I said against her neck. “Like you were made for me.”
Her eyes widened just before they closed. I gripped her hair to get her to open them again, but she kept them shut. Almost as if she could block me out.
Hell, I wasn’t just the conduit for her damn pleasure.
I flipped us over and lifted her thigh higher around my ribs. Her eyes popped wide, and the strangled scream she let out eased the tension inside me.
I lowered my mouth and kissed her hard, invading every part of her—tongue, cock, heart. It wasn’t just fucking. It wasn’t just pleasure. I wanted it to be more. Maybe that made me stupid, but it was honest.
As she arched under me, her nails dug into my shoulders, and she tightened around me, her breath fast and labored. She was close, and I wanted to go with her. My knuckles dug into the mattress as I sped up to catch her. To never let her go.
She said my name on a shattered cry, and then it was nothing but her name on my lips as I finally emptied myself inside of her.
I fell on top of her, my knees and back giving out. Suddenly, I was boneless.
Possibly paralyzed too.
I pressed my face into her neck, dragging in that honeyed vanilla scent that clung to her. And maybe a little bit of me was mixed with her now.
The thought made me greedy enough to wish I could have her all over again.