Because my best friend slept naked in my bed.
And that was the reason this was meant to be.
The sheet fell, revealing her bared breasts. During the night, she’d stolen the blankets with a huff only to hoist them away when she’d gotten hot. Now, she slept in a cocoon of stark white Egyptian cotton, the ruffles and wrinkles contrasting her dark and supple skin.
Women usually didn’t stay the night with me. More specifically, I never hung around after we’d had our fun.
So many firsts with Clover.
First time I’d taken a virgin.
First time I’d come inside of a woman.
First time I’d attempted to impregnate a lady.
Was it wrong that I hoped it wouldn’t be my last?
How fucking selfish was it to imagine the possibility of another mind-blowing night with Clover?
Especially because I was so fucking disappointed in myself.
I shifted in the bed, staring only at the ceiling. Even now, my cock twitched. Why the hell wasn’t that betrayer satisfied yet? Christ. After ravishing her for hours, it was a miracle the damn thing was still attached. Clover’s pussy was like a vice, gripping me, milking me, driving me to the brink of insanity again and again.
I’d lost all control.
Everything I’d planned, every promise I’d made, every sensual tease…
Fucking ruined.
I had meant for our one and only night to be something spectacular—an experience she’d never had and would never forget.
But when she sat on my lap, straddling me with those silken thighs and awestruck eyes, I’d abandoned my senses and succumbed to my own primitive desires.
I’d taken her hard. Fast. Ruthlessly.
It was a voracious, hungry sort of sex. Ugly in its intensity and enraging in my own ferocity.
I’d become an animal. Ravenous and desperate. One touch, one kiss, one thrust within her, and I lost all semblance of who I was and what I’d wanted to be for her.
My cock had claimed what wasn’t mine. I’d consumed all of her. The pleasure had shredded my resolve, and I turned beast. More instinct than man.
And yet…she’d enjoyed it.
Clover had come on my cock again and again, until she was broken, weeping, and clinging to my shoulders, whispering words we’d both regret.
But it wasn’t what I had wanted for her.
It wasn’t the side of me I’d wanted her to see, and it definitely wasn’t what I’d wanted her to feel.
I’d planned for our night together to be perfect. I’d promised to make love to her, to show her exactly the intimacy lacking from her life.
And something must’ve been missing. Something big, something important.
Until now, Clover’s obsessions had been travel and fun. She’d drop everything on a random Tuesday and fly to Norway to watch the northern lights. Then she’d book a trip to Indonesia for a few days because she was halfway there anyway.
Every meaning in her life came from chaotic adventures and spur-of-the-moment exotic trips.
She’d never once spoken of a family. Never mused about having a baby or settling down.
She might’ve thought she wanted a baby.
But I could read her easier than that.
Clover was lonely.
So why didn’t she just tell me the truth?
Clover stirred, tensing with a full-bodied stretch from the tips of her fingers to her curling toes. The hazelnut radiance of her skin contrasted with the white bedding—beautiful and tempting.
Her back arched, her hips twisted, and she slowly blinked her dark eyes, heavy with sleep.
It took only a lazy stroke of her hand over the valley between her breasts before she stilled and sucked in a breath.
“Oh…” She fumbled for the thin sheet. “I’m still naked.”
I wasn’t complaining. “How ‘bout that.”
Her glance to my side of the bed was quick and modest. She diverted her attention toward the window instead.
“And…you’re very naked too.”
The blanket didn’t do a good job of hiding my interest. I shifted, but rolling onto my side only aimed my excitement toward her. Wasn’t sure if an apology was warranted…or if I wanted to extend an invitation.
“Yeah, I’m not sure where our clothes ended up,” I said.
“…I think I remember cursing the day we ever wore them.”
The memories blended in a haze of heat and furious passion. At some point, I’d gotten the lingerie off her, but instead of peeling the material from her curves…
Hopefully, she wouldn’t be pissed that I’d destroyed it.
My behavior should’ve shamed me. Instead, it only turned my morning wood to stone.
“You promised never to wear a pair of panties again.” I reminded her.
Clover tucked her hair behind her ears. “Probably not a good look for me.”
“Or it’s the best look for you.”
“Might be the only look for me. I’m pretty sure my teddy is in pieces.”
“It got in my way.”
“I’ll remember to wear the inexpensive one next time.”
“Fuck, I’ll buy out an entire lingerie store if I can rip it all to shreds off of you.”
“Well, now you’re just making more work for yourself.”
“Best part of Christmas is unwrapping the presents.”
“I always thought it was Christmas dinner?”
“I had plenty to eat last night.”
She pushed at me, a sly giggle brightening my morning. She drummed her hands over the sheet, doing her best to sort out the wrinkles instead of meeting my gaze.
“Did we…oversleep?” she asked.
“Gotta sleep to oversleep.”
“Not that I mind waking next to you.”
Her innocent smile nearly wrenched off my cock. I hardened more. Shamefully so. Like I hadn’t had my fill of her after an entire night of fucking.
Like I’d never get enough.
Like I always wanted to wake up with her in my arms.
“How do you feel?” I asked. They weren’t the right words, but what could I say that’d encompass do you regret it, were you satisfied, did I ruin this, did I ruin you?
“Sticky…” Clover cleared her throat. “Really…sticky.”
That did nothing to ease the pulsing of my cock.
Christ, I’d made her sticky.
Messy.
Mine.
I’d taken her. Come inside her. Tried to impregnate her.
What did a man need to give for a chance to do it again?
“Should we…?” Clover motioned toward the bathroom.
“Shower?”
She shimmied toward the edge of the bed, carrying the sheet with her. She tugged, yanked, and jerked the sheet with a grunt. It didn’t budge, offering her only a small corner to cover her curves.
Her pout delighted me. “Wow…the movies make this look much more graceful.” She held the covers over her chest. “I…would you…close your eyes?”
“What?”
“I mean…I’m naked. You’re naked. Unless…you don’t mind.”
The proof was in the nine inches of hardened inconvenience under my side of the sheet. I shifted, doing my best to remain a gentleman.
I covered my eyes with my hand to grant her a moment of modesty, but Clover didn’t move. Instead, she reached for me, gently brushing her fingers over mine. The blankets slipped only an inch, revealing the hint of her beautiful curves.