Her bare skin against mine felt like a dream. Both of us were breathless as our eyes met. Then she cupped my face in her hands and assaulted my mouth with hers. My girl is hungry. If my lips weren’t otherwise occupied, I would have grinned. Becca was feisty—she always had been. But God, I’d had no idea how fucking awesome that was.
My hands traveled every inch of her exposed skin. But that wasn’t enough—I wanted to taste her. I pulled away from her mouth and trailed my lips along her jawline. She tilted her head, causing her hair to cascade over my face. The flowery smell of it was intoxicating. The last thing I’d expected was the damn scent of her shampoo to make me even harder, but there it was. My cock strained painfully against my pants.
When my tongue found the tender spot behind her ear, she shuddered and let out a little moan. Her hips rotated in my lap, causing her sweet ass to rub against me. Heat spread to every cell of my body. I gripped her ass to pull her closer.
Suddenly, her fingers dug into my shoulders, and she stilled. Her breath was shaky.
I paused. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I got dizzy. Give me a second.”
I pulled back and brushed her hair away from her face. Her eyes were closed, and she was taking deep breaths. “I’ve got you.”
She opened her eyes. “I’m good now.”
Instead of returning my attention to her throat, I shifted so that I could stretch out on the couch. I positioned her on top of me so that her head was nestled between my shoulder and neck. “Comfy?”
“But…” She seemed perplexed, something that didn’t happen often since she was so damn smart. “I was comfy before.”
I chuckled, and I could almost feel her cheeks redden against my chest. “You’re still dealing with the effects of the concussion. We’ll have plenty of time for other things.” Because now that you’re in my arms, I’m never letting you go. “I’m just happy to be close to you.”
No one was more surprised than me that that was true. I’d always been a love-’em-and-leave-’em guy. Cuddling wasn’t in my repertoire. But everything was different with Becca.
She was quiet for a moment, and because I knew her so well, I could tell she was trying to figure out how to say something. “I wasn’t lying when I said I was comfy before. Because now you’re kind of poking me.”
I frowned. What the hell? I wasn’t wearing a belt or anything. Maybe it was the remote. Then I laughed as I realized what she meant. I reached down and adjusted myself so my erection wasn’t pressing into her belly. “Better?”
“Yes. I would have fixed it myself, but…” She trailed off, and I had to squeeze my eyes shut as images of Becca “fixing” me filled my mind. My cock pulsed, and I managed to stifle a groan.
“Yeah,” I said wryly. “There’s only one way you’ll be able to fix that, and I don’t think you’re ready.”
She lifted her head up and propped herself up on her arms. “I am ready, Carson. I’ve been ready for years.” Her wide brown eyes combined with her trembling lower lip made her look so vulnerable. This was a confession she’d been holding in for a long time, and I’d had no idea. Years? I couldn’t believe she’d kept her feelings from me for so long. I tried to imagine how my life would have been different if I’d known sooner.
I tucked her hair behind her ear. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“Because I didn’t want to screw things up between us. You never gave me any indication you’d be open to the idea.”
I wouldn’t have been because Becca was Roman’s little sister, which meant she had always been off limits. I’d believed that for so long that it was just a fact of life, something I never questioned. Anything I’d felt for her was suppressed so quickly by my subconscious that I’d never recognized it. But I had loved Becca for as long as I could remember. It had taken her getting attacked and me seeing her walk out my door with another guy for me to realize I was in love with her.
Even though moments ago, I’d thought about what would have happened if I’d been aware of her feelings earlier, I was now suddenly glad I hadn’t known. I still didn’t trust myself not to fuck this up, but I knew my younger self definitely would have made a mess of things.
“I don’t deserve you,” I said.
“Stop.” Her expression was pained. “I hate when you devalue yourself like that.”
“It’s true, though.” I’d never pretended to be anything I wasn’t, and I wasn’t about to start now.
Sighing, Becca laid her head down on my chest again. “I think you have an overinflated opinion of me.”
I laughed. “You are probably the only girl alive who would try to talk a guy into thinking less of her.”
“Maybe you’ve been hanging out with the wrong girls.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Obviously.” Because no girl had ever felt so right in my arms. I never thought I would be content simply holding someone like this. Don’t get me wrong—I definitely wanted to do more than just hold Becca. But for now, this was perfect.
Just like her.
***
Becca
I WOKE WITH a smile on my face and snuggled closer to Carson. Is this really my life? I’d never been more tempted to pinch myself. Any minute now, I expected him to realize he’d made a mistake, that—
Nope… Don’t go there. I didn’t know what the future held for us, but I wouldn’t let my fear rob me of this moment.
Staring at Carson’s sleeping face, I forced myself not to touch him. God, he’s handsome. When awake, he had a roguish look about him—mischievous with just a hint of danger. Sleeping, though, he looked peaceful and somehow softer. Not that soft, though.
My gaze traveled lower to his chest, which was only partially covered by the sheet. Nothing about his body was soft. He was all muscles and cut lines. My eyes landed on his tattoo. He’d gotten it the day he turned eighteen, and I was pretty sure he’d only done it to piss off his parents. Mission accomplished. It was a tribal design that was shaped into a wave, but a closer look revealed the wave actually had arrows running through it. When he’d first gotten it, I asked him what it meant, but he’d simply laughed and said it looked cool. That was Carson in a nutshell, but I believed the tattoo symbolized something, even if he didn’t realize it.
He twitched, and I watched him for a moment, hopeful he was waking up. But when his body remained still, I sighed. He might not have a concussion, but he still needed sleep. He pushed his body to the limits on a daily basis. I couldn’t begin to imagine how exhausting that was. So while I wanted nothing more than to wake him up and continue what we’d started last night, I left him alone.
I peered at the alarm clock, but because I didn’t have my contacts in, I couldn’t see it. I felt around the nightstand, finally laying hands on my glasses. Slipping them on, I looked at the clock. Shit! I hadn’t set an alarm because I hadn’t anticipated sleeping so late. Then again, I also hadn’t anticipated staying up until way past midnight, cuddling with Carson and talking about everything and nothing. Long conversations with him were nothing new, but somehow every word had taken on new significance. It was so weird to experience something so new with a person but also to be completely at ease with him.