Since then he’d let my arms go, and they were now looped around his neck. A few minutes of hot-and-heavy kissing had me tilting my pelvis into his. He didn’t argue, grinding his thick erection against my belly.
His hands were locked firmly around my ribs, waiting for permission before touching me higher. His throat moved as he swallowed, and then he was leading me to his bed. He sat on the edge slowly, rubbing his palms against his thighs. An invitation.
I perched on his lap, and his arms came around me, scooping me against him and holding me there. He felt nice. Smelled better. It’d only been a day and already I’d missed him so much.
His feet were planted on the floor, his back straight. I appreciated him easing me along. After I thought about what had happened the last time we were together, it seemed inevitable. It was like Cade and I had been dating since the night of the accident. I hadn’t dated anyone else, and neither had he. Sure, most of our dates were scheduled, wordless sessions, but we were proving how fun wordless could be.
He kissed me softer this time, as his fingers tickled along the bottom of my shirt and my heart stuttered in my chest.
He pulled away to make a clear-spoken request. “Let me touch you.”
I wanted him to touch me, even though my nerves jangled. “Okay.”
His hand slipped beneath my shirt and flattened on the small of my back. His touch was firm and warm, tentative at first. I tugged his neck and explored his mouth boldly, giving him permission to go forward.
He didn’t hesitate, sliding his hand along my stomach and stopping at the bottom edge of my bra. I pulled my mouth from his to suck in a much-needed breath. We watched each other for a languid moment before he kissed my neck again. I promptly forgot why I was hesitating. Some misguided do-gooder complex? The idea of being a bad girl and ruining my track record? He tugged on my earlobe with his teeth, and I wiggled in his lap, encountering his rigid length against my hip. He grunted and brushed his thumb over my bra.
When he rolled my shirt over my stomach, I shoved it down and halted his hand. Feeling was one thing. Seeing was another.
He clamped his other palm at the back of my neck and leveled me with a glare, his brow furrowing.
He seemed more intense than usual, so I decided to lighten the mood. “Are you mad because I won’t let you take off my bra?”
His gaze darted away, his mind elsewhere.
“Something else?” I pressed.
His mouth pulled into a frown.
“You’re going to have to tell me. I can’t read your caveman facial expressions.”
When he said nothing, I used his tactics against him. Tilting his head to one side, I set my lips to his neck. As I sucked his taut flesh along the thick column of his throat, his hands wound into fists around my T-shirt.
He liked being kissed on the neck, a prospect I found enthralling. I liked teasing him, liked driving him wild. I dragged my teeth along his throat and then licked his salty, pine-scented skin. I finished with a suckle to his earlobe followed by, “Talk to me.”
When I pulled my face from his neck, I was met with glittering, lust-filled eyes. His nostrils flared, his erection pulsing between us.
“Tell me why you’re upset and I’ll let you take my shirt off,” I blurted without thinking. Heart hammering, I added, “Trust me when I say that is a very big deal for me.”
“I…” He hesitated, but I didn’t think it was because he needed to. He was choosing his words carefully. “Saw old friends,” he finished, his tone flat.
“Friends…who aren’t friends any longer?” I assumed.
“Yeah.” He pushed a hand through his hair, and some of the heat left his eyes. I mentally kicked myself for breaking our delicious stride.
After a deliberate pause, he spoke again, slowly and concisely. “The law firm we were going to start together…they leased it. Without me.”
I stroked his hair back into place, understanding. They’d moved on without Cade. He’d been left behind. “Do you want to go back to college?”
“No.” His face pinched, then he shrugged. “I don’t nuh-know.”
I understood the feeling.
“It falls under the ‘be careful what you wish for’ column, doesn’t it?” I asked, settling into his protective warmth. “Tony and I used to talk about moving in together and getting married after graduation. I don’t even think I wanted to marry him. I was going through the motions.”
But there wasn’t any “think” about it, I realized. As I sat on Cade’s lap, my fingers in his hair, my eyes on his, I knew. I hadn’t wanted to move in with Tony. Or marry him. Even if he hadn’t been unfaithful, I didn’t feel half the attraction for him that I felt for Cade.
Cade’s hands stroked my bare back, but not in a sexual way, just touching me while I talked. I liked these private, quiet, close moments with him.
“I go with the flow too much,” I admitted. “I probably shouldn’t, considering—what are you doing?”
His hands had begun rolling my T-shirt. “Deal’s a deal.”
“Yes, but uh, there are rules.” Self-consciously, I laughed. “Turn off the light first.”
His expression went from intense to confused. “Why?”
Because Tony, in addition to being a jerk, was also a perfectionist. There was never a time I took my clothes off in his presence when he didn’t point out one flaw or another. He often suggested how I could improve. At the time I told myself that athletic bodies were his thing and he was an authority in that realm. Now I knew he was just being a demeaning asshole.
I couldn’t tell Cade that. Talk about killing the mood.
“T-Tasha.” Cade tapped my forehead with his index finger.
He rarely said my name. The T gave him trouble. But I liked hearing him try.
“Yes?” I guessed the forehead tap was because he’d watched my thoughts wander out of this room.
“L-leaving the light on.”
“Then I’m leaving my shirt on.” I smiled sweetly. “Deal’s a deal.”
Darkness swept into his eyes, telling me he wasn’t going to stop trying to convince me otherwise. My heart fluttered. I wanted to let go with him. I wanted to tell him yes, but I also didn’t want him to see my imperfections.
“Take it off.” He brushed my lips with the pad of his thumb. Chills sprang to my arms and the back of my neck at the command. His mouth came closer to mine and my nipples tightened.
I licked my lips, nervous now. “I have a better idea.”
All I had to do was distract him. And I could easily guess what he’d like. I wanted to taste him, and it would be a convenient distraction from the whole light-on-light-off argument.
“How about I kiss you again?” I purred against his mouth. “This time below the waist.”
Cade
Yes, yes, yes.
Her mouth moved to my throat and her hands went to my shirt.
Wait. No.
The rational, cock-blocking part of my brain pushed a thought to the front that I didn’t like at all. She’s distracting you.
The last girl I slept with was a college sophomore studying to be a criminal defense lawyer. She was…not good in bed. Since the accident had taken my speech, my confidence, and my mobility for a short time, I hadn’t slept with anyone else. It’d been several months since I’d had a girl in my bed, a hell of a lot longer since I’d had one willing to suck my dick. Six months, maybe eight. God. Had it been eight? And now Tasha, who had the most magical mouth to ever touch mine, was offering.