“What?” he asked.
“Just didn’t know I’d be where I am now and gettin’ hard over it too.”
Taro’s smile widened, and he started laughing, rolling to his back. I watched him. I could do so now, freely. Though shyness slipped in, and my face burned as once more nerves flickered to life. My gut acted up when he rolled back to face me.
Swiftly, Taro pushed me to my back and straddled my waist. My heart thumped hard in my chest as he pushed up my top.
“I had hoped, but I didn’t think you would be here in my room wanting to ‘talk’ after that kiss we shared.” His hands paused from pushing up my Henley. “You did come in here for something?” He groaned, closing his eyes. “I didn’t force myself—”
“No,” I said quickly. “I wanted to— Christ, this is embarrassing.”
His grin slipped back in place as he tugged at my top. I lifted enough for Taro to helpfully remove it from my body. He bit his bottom lip, looking down at me. “What’s embarrassing?” he asked.
“This. I don’t know. I wanted to taste you.”
His eyes fluttered closed. “Josh.”
Reaching up, I cupped the side of his neck and pulled him down to have his mouth. To claim it. He rocked over my hardness, and I pushed up to match his rhythm.
I didn’t care any longer.
This, being with Taro, having him in my arms, was a wild ride, and the feeling was a high I didn’t want to give up yet.
It felt good.
Right. In my head, chest, and body.
The man made me harder than a damn drumstick.
His lips trailed down my chin, my cheek, my neck. I wanted to sink into his skin and feel this forever.
Jesus Christ. Mind blown.
Taro kissed down my chest and licked at my nipple before biting. I hissed out a breath and rubbed my hands up and down his skin, his arms, back, head, then fingers through his hair. He kissed down further, where he was trying to head clear, but it wasn’t the time for it.
I had to laugh at myself, because I didn’t know where the fuck I had gone.
I loved sex.
I could fuck day and night for that sweet release, yet here I was, holding back because, and fuck me for thinking it, I wanted to know him.
Yet did he want that from me, or was he only after one thing?
Shit, did he want a one-night stand?
Taro paused at the top of my pants and lifted up. “What’s wrong?”
“What?”
“You tensed up.”
Shit, fuck, shit. What did I do? What did I say? Something where I didn’t sound like a moron with a crush?
A crush. I’d never had one before.
Taro lay over me, folding his hands on my chest to rest his chin on them. Waiting for me to say something. I didn’t know what to say though.
Instead, I brushed his hair away from his eyes and ran my gaze over his face.
What was it about this that had me fucking weak in the knees?
“Like your hair colour,” I said softly.
He flashed me his teeth in a grin. “Good to know.”
When I started running my fingers through his hair and watching it drop from my grasp, only to do it over again, his eyes drifted closed. How did a guy have such soft hair? A small smile touched his lips, his head tipped to the side, cheek resting on my chest. I could play with his hair all damn day long.
My heart thundered. Could he hear it?
He rubbed his head against my chest, and I wrapped my other arm around his shoulders, holding him to me. His weight settled in more. He wasn’t heavy. He fit perfectly. I liked the pressure of having him on top of me.
I squeezed my eyes shut while continuing to play with his hair.
Why did this work for me?
Eventually, his breathing evened out, and I relaxed more into the bed by putting both arms around his body. Holding him. I didn’t hold anyone in bed. Not like this.
Sleep started to drag me under, and all I could think was that I’d lost the will to fight this. I wanted to take that chance.
Chapter Twelve
Wolf
I had never slept as soundly as I had last night. It was all to do with the man curled into my back with his nose buried in my hair. A smile overtook me. I had thought he would have run after he had tensed up. He hadn’t. He’d played with my hair, touched me, held me like he wanted to do that more than anything else, more than I thought he would.
I couldn’t believe I had fallen asleep on him, and he’d stayed.
It meant something, didn’t it?
Josh liked me. That sounded juvenile, but I was sure it was true.
Josh.
Not Ruin.
It was good to call him by his real name. To me, it meant a lot, just like when he used my name. It was a connection we hadn’t had before.
His arm around my waist tightened as he stretched and made a noise in the back of his throat. My cock responded.
A knock sounded on the door, and Josh woke with a start, cursing. He leaped over my body and landed on the floor with a thud.
“Wolf?” Ryo called because of the sound. Before I could stop Ryo, he had the door open and stood in it, looking around frantically with a gun pointed. “What’s going on?”
Tension slapped at me. Would Josh stay hidden? Would he want no one to know? I could understand why, but annoyance didn’t begin to describe my reaction if that was the case.
“I—”
“Nothin’” came from the floor before Josh stood with his hands on his waist. He glared from Ryo down to me, then back to Ryo. When his gaze dropped to me once more, it ran over my body, and his eyes narrowed even more. He moved quickly and picked up the sheet to wrap around me, covering half of my head as well.
My breath caught in my throat. Was he seriously hiding me from Ryo’s gaze?
Ryo snorted out a laugh before he covered it with a cough.
“Can I help you, Ryo?” I asked and tried to slap the sheet away, but Josh held it in place.
My chest expanded at the thought of Josh being possessive, but it was only Ryo.
“You were late,” Ryo said.
“What time is it?” I tried to pull the sheet away again, but Josh sank to the bed behind me and held it in place. “What are you doing?” I demanded.
“Nothin’,” he clipped.
“It’s after eight, Wolf,” Ryo called.
“I’ll be out soon,” I told him.
“Very well. Ruin, I also closed your bedroom door, since you left it open sometime through the night.”
Ruin grunted. “Thanks.”
Ryo laughed again before I heard the door close. Josh’s hold on the sheet loosened, and I thrashed my hands around until the sheet dropped off my head, pooling around my waist. I went to turn until Josh tugged my back into his chest, and his lips met my shoulders.
“Sorry,” he offered sheepishly.
“What was that?” I asked.
“I panicked.”
“Panicked? Not over being seen in my room, but over Ryo seeing me half-naked?”
My pulse raced even before he answered with “Yeah. I didn’t like the thought of anyone seein’ you like that.”
“I could have felt the same way, with me not wanting him to see you like that,” I pointed out.
“I thought that too. It’s why I sat behind you.”