“Not much of a punishment,” I snort. “You’ve got a nice backside. It’s a work of art, really. All round and symmetrical, with the nice hollow parts on the sides. It’s an enjoyable view.”
“Thanks. I enjoy your backside as well.”
I smile, even though it hurts a little with all the blood rushing to my head. “Really? You don’t think it’s too flat? It used to be more bubbilicious when I hit the stair climber more often, but it’s so hard to find time to get to the gym.”
“It’s perfect. My favorite ass on one of my favorite people.”
His words fill me with a feeling so cozy and sweet I want to kiss him. Seeing as his lips aren’t within reach, however, I settle for planting a big “mwuah” on his jean-clad backside.
Shane laughs. “Did you just kiss my ass?”
“I did. And I enjoyed it.”
Still laughing, he flips me back onto my feet, steadying me with one strong arm as the world shifts into its proper perspective. When my vision clears, I look up to find him gazing down at me with an unfamiliar expression. I’ve never seen that exact mix of softness and intensity in his eyes before, but I like the way it makes my chest ache and my pulse flutter.
I like it so much I have to kiss him again, this time on those lips that are smiling just for me.
Chapter 8
Shane
The afternoon flies by in a happy haze—filled with ice cream, cartwheels, more ice cream, and over an hour spent splashing in the fountain with a group of kids who are kind enough to loan Bree and I water guns so we can join their battle for the fate of the Land of Fountainia.
By the time we fetch Bree’s car from the university parking lot and I follow her back to the parking garage beneath her building at six, I’m exhausted, but the last thing I want to do is go home.
I want to stay here with Bree.
I want to race her upstairs to see who can grab the first beer from the fridge. I want to order pizza and watch movies with her snuggled close. But most of all, I want to pull her onto my lap, thank her for being one of the most fun people I know, and kiss her until she makes more of those soft, hungry sounds she makes. I want to kiss every inch of her beautiful body, make her gasp and moan and come so hard she’ll forget all the men who touched her before me.
But though I’d like to believe I have the strength to devote myself to Bree’s pleasure without being tempted to take things further, I want this woman too much to trust my self-restraint.
I should head home. Now.
Do not pass go, do not kiss this irresistible woman goodbye.
Instead, when I slam out of my truck beside her Gremlin and Bree asks, “Want to come up for tacos? I can throw some together fast. That way you won’t have to worry about grabbing food when you head home to pack,” I can’t get across the garage fast enough.
She laughs as I bound toward the elevators. “Hungry?”
“Starving,” I confirm in a voice too suggestive for my own liking. Yes, I’m hungry for more than tacos. But tacos are the only thing on the menu tonight.
Until those super-power condoms are delivered, Bree might as well be wearing a nun’s habit as far as I’m concerned.
“Me, too,” she murmurs, gliding into the elevator behind me and punching the button for her floor with a predatory look that makes my cock instantly, desperately hard.
But I’ve been suffering from hard-on-itis all afternoon.
Her hand tucked into my elbow as we walked, her hip brushing mine as we sat on a bench with ice creams in hand, watching the boats drift down the river—that’s all it takes with her. She doesn’t even have to try to turn me on. She just has to live and breathe and be Bree, the only girl who’s ever made me feel this way. Made me wild, out-of-control, and so desperate to be with her I’m pretty sure I’ll be rocking a set of blue balls until she’s finally in my bed.
“This is the first time we’ve been alone all afternoon.” Her fingers play at the hem of her damp tank top in a way that pulls the fabric tighter to her chest, revealing the lines of her black bra and the hard nipples beneath, making me grateful I changed back into my boxers and jeans. If I were still wearing my suit, the situation south of the border would be even harder to conceal.
“It is.” I bite my lip, fighting to keep my eyes on hers instead of those nipples I want in my mouth more than I want food or air or gravity to keep me from spinning off the planet and into the cold depths of space.
Let space have me, as long as I get to have this woman first.
“So why are you so far away?” Bree sways closer, eliminating the distance between us as the elevator zips upward. Her arms go around my neck, and my palms come immediately to her ass, gripping her plush backside as our lips meet in a kiss that is anything but friendly.
It’s hot, deep, and so urgent I know she feels it, too, this hunger that roars through me every time we touch.
Sparks ignite behind my eyes, and my blood rushes in my ears as her tongue dances with mine. She tastes like ice cream and sunshine, and when she gasps and rocks forward, nudging her hips against where I ache, my fingers spasm, digging even deeper into her ass as a full body shudder works through me from head to toe.
“Are you okay?” Bree asks, palms smoothing down to rest on my chest.
“No, I’m not okay.” I force the words out through a whip-tight jaw. “I have to go. I don’t trust myself to be alone with you. I want you too fucking much.”
“I want you, too,” she says, her lust-fogged eyes staring hungrily into mine. “I have condoms, Shane. I know they aren’t the kind you ordered, but—”
“No.” I shake my head sharply. “We’re not taking any chances or cutting any corners with that. This is too important.”
Her face falls, her disappointment so clear I can feel it vibrating through me, adding a different kind of ache into the mix of torment. I hate that I’ve let her down, but I love that she wants me that much, so much that as the elevator doors woosh open, she’s tearing up a little.
“But we can do other things,” I say, stepping off the elevator.
Bree’s breath rushes out as she grabs my hand. “Oh, good. I don’t want you to leave. I need more of you first.”
“I need more of you, too,” I confess. Surely I can control myself for an hour or two until I have to leave to get ready for the trip, especially if Bree promises to help me keep things safe. “But you have to promise me something.” I stop in front of her door, guiding her backpack off her shoulder to rest on the floor before cradling her upper arms in my hands.
“Anything,” she says breathlessly.
I arch a brow. “Really? So, your first-born child? Your immortal soul? Those are on the table?”
She nods. “Yes. I’m already in the Foolish Choices place. Who knew playing in fountains could make a person so frisky?” Her lids droop to half-mast as her fingers fist in my shirt. “Or maybe it’s just you who makes me wild and reckless with lust.”
“That’s what we’re not going to be.” I suck in a breath as her hands slip beneath my T-shirt to smooth up my stomach, sending fresh waves of desire rocketing through me. I want to haul her inside and take her against the nearest wall, but instead, I insist, “No reckless on my watch. Which means my pants stay on, okay? No matter what happens, neither of us touches that button or zipper. Agreed?”
“But what if I really want to touch it?” She leans in for a kiss as her fingers curl into the top of my jeans.
With firm, only slightly shaking hands, I grip her wrists and guide her arms to her sides, severing the connection between us. “If you can’t promise to help me keep my pants on, I’m leaving right now.”
She sobers quickly. “All right. I promise.”
I narrow my gaze as I release my grip on her wrists. “I’m serious.”
“I’m serious, too. And when I make promises, I keep them,” she says, before adding in a softer voice. “But you didn’t say anything about your shirt, correct?”
“No,
I didn’t,” I confirm, pulse leaping as she collects her bag from the floor and fishes her keys from an inside pocket. In just a few seconds, we’re going to be alone, and I will finally discover the taste of Bree’s skin, every centimeter of her, from those tight nipples to her soft thighs and everything in between.
“Good.” Bree unlocks the door and motions me inside. “Then get in there and get your shirt off, Wallace. I want you as naked as I can get you.”
Lust spiking, I salute her with a grin. “Always happy to give a lady what she wants.”
I step through the door, she slams it behind us, and the fabric starts to fly. My shirt and then her shirt drift to the floor as we kick off shoes and come back together with a moan of relief to be touching again.
“This is the best way to get out of clothes,” I murmur against her lips, kissing her as we stumble across the room, hands roaming.
“The very best,” she agrees, breath catching as my fingers find the clasp of her bra and pop it open.
“Okay?”
She nods. “So much better than okay.” She holds my gaze as she reaches up, guiding the straps down her arms.
With an easy sweep of one hand, she tosses the bra to the floor, baring the most beautiful breasts I’ve ever seen. She’s two perfect handfuls, with evenly tanned honey-colored skin that hints at topless time spent in the sun.
The realization is nearly as much of a turn-on as the sight of her dusty rose nipples standing at attention for me, begging me to come say hello.
“You like?” she asks, a vulnerable note in her voice that makes it clear she has no idea how gorgeous she is. How absolutely fucking irresistible.
Being a man of few words, I don’t have what it takes to express all the wild, worshipful, awestruck things she makes me feel. So I show her instead.
I pull her into my arms, kissing her hard and deep while my hands come to cup her breasts—gently, reverently at first. But as we tumble onto the couch and Bree arches beneath me, pressing her soft flesh into my palms, I don’t hesitate to give her more. Bending my head to her chest, I circle each pink tip with my tongue, my pulse pounding as her breath comes faster and her fingers tangle in my hair.
Soon her legs are wrapped tight around my hips and her arms are trembling on either side of my face as I deepen the contact, pulling her nipple into my mouth and sucking hard.
She cries out—lust and relief mixing in the husky sound—and my cock throbs miserably in my jeans. I’m going to feel like I’ve been punched in the balls repeatedly by the time we’re through, but it will be worth it. I would walk around with my nuts in a vice for a week if that was the price of admission to this bright, beautiful new world where Bree is naked and squirming beneath me, wanting me every bit as much as I want her.
I reach for the button on her shorts, dying to feel her wetness on my fingers, to taste her on my tongue, but she reaches down, her hand closing around mine. “No.” She shakes her head. “If your pants don’t come off, my pants don’t come off.”
I groan through a clenched jaw, feeling like I’ve been deprived of something necessary for survival.
Bree smiles in response, “Now you know how I feel. But a promise is a promise, and like you said, there are other things we can do.”
Before I can tell her I don’t want to do anything but make her come on my mouth—again and again, until she’s too weak to get up off this couch—she pushes at my chest. I reluctantly sit up, hating every second I’m away from her sinfully soft skin, but thankfully, a moment later she’s straddling my hips and bringing her lips back to mine.
“I’m so close,” she whispers into my mouth as she begins to roll her hips, riding me through our clothes. “What about you? When’s the last time you came with your clothes on?”
“Fifteen.” My throat goes tight as I catch her rhythm, bucking into her at the end of each thrust, grinding my cock between her spread thighs. “Is it safe?”
“Yes.” She shudders as my hands cup her breasts. “It won’t soak through your boxers and jeans. And even if it does, it will take time. I’ll be able to move away before things get dangerous.”
“Sounds risky,” I say, but I don’t stop rocking into her or fight the tension rising inside of me, carrying me closer to the edge.
“It’s not. It’s fine.” She bites my lip, summoning a groan from low in my throat. “Live a little, Wallace, and come with me.” Her hips move faster as she chases that release I want so badly for her, for myself. “I want to hear the sounds you make when you lose control, to know I make you as crazy as you make me.”
I feel crazy, half mad with lust and not one hundred percent sure this is okay, but I’m too far gone to turn back now. “You get off of me as soon as you go,” I order.
“I get off as soon as you get off,” she says, her lips curving against mine as she kisses me with a hunger that is the sexiest thing in the world.
“As soon as we get off,” I correct, rolling her nipples between my fingers and thumb. “You’re going to come for me, Marks. I want to hear the sounds you make, too.”
“Yes. I love the way you touch me.” She arches into my hands, bringing her breasts into more intimate contact with my fingers as she grinds against my swollen cock. Her breath starts to come in swift, shallow pants, and I swear I can feel how close she is, sense the pleasure building inside her and swiftly becoming something too powerful to resist.
“I love feeling you ride me.” I groan against her neck, raking my teeth lightly over her sweat-damp skin as I add in a tortured voice, “Fuck, I can’t wait to feel you come, Bree. Come for me, baby, let me hear you come for me.”
With a sexy cry, Bree throws back her head, her silky blond hair tickling the skin on the backs of my hands as I urge her hips tight to my cock and finally let go. I explode with a groan, pulsing hard behind my fly, coming in my own pants for the first time since I was a teenager with more hormones than self-control. And yes, I would rather be buried balls deep in Bree, but this is still incredible, so intense it takes a good thirty seconds to regain the self-control needed to guide her off my lap and onto the couch beside me.
“I don’t want to leave you.” She kisses my cheek as her fingers drift back and forth across my chest. “Those condoms better be waiting in the delivery locker when you check tomorrow morning, or I’m going to drive up to Seattle myself and buy every package in the store.”
“We’ll go in the van. Together,” I promise. “But they guaranteed locker delivery between midnight tonight and four tomorrow morning.”
She pulls back, eyes wide as she grabs her tank top and tugs it over her head without bothering to put her bra on. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place? We could stay up until then! Eat tacos, watch movies, and then go on a condom retrieving mission.”
I wince. “As much as I would love that, there’s no way I’ll be able to drive tomorrow if I stay up all night.”
“We wouldn’t have to stay up all night.”
“Oh yes, we would.” I cup her chin, brushing my thumb across her kiss-swollen bottom lip. “I intend to take my time with you, doc. Make sure your first time isn’t something you’re ever going to forget.”
Her eyes darken. “Tomorrow night, then?”
“Tomorrow,” I promise. “But right now I should get going before I put my self-control to any tougher test.”
She glances down at my lap, and her cheeks flush.
“Thinking naughty thoughts?” I ask, unable to resist teasing her, just a little.
She peers up at me through her lashes, a sexy half-smile curving her lips. “I’m thinking all the naughty thoughts. Every single one.”
Against all the odds and laws of nature, my cock twitches in my jeans, insisting he’s ready to fulfill all her fantasies. “Are you trying to kill me?” I ask, sliding my fingers into her hair and fisting my hand lightly in the silky strands.
“No,” she says, blinking innocently. “But if you changed your mind and decided to race me to my bedroo
m to see which of us can get to the condoms in my nightstand first, I wouldn’t complain. I mean, you would have to take a quick shower first, but I would wait for you.”
I smirk. “Oh yeah? You would? You’d do me that favor?”
She nods, her lips curving. “I would. I’d even do it naked.” Her brows wiggle up and down. “If you played your cards right.”
Cursing beneath my breath, I ball my hands into fists and stand up fast, determined to get out of here before I do something I’ll regret.
“You’re going? Don’t go.” The plea in her voice mimics the pleading of my cock, who is vehemently arguing that there’s no need to make a beeline for the exit.
He insists we can handle this, and reminds me that, in all the years we’ve been using condoms together, we’ve only had one break two measly little times.
I ignore him and tug on my shirt.
Two times is two too many. I want Bree—God, do I want her, like nothing else—but I want her safe and healthy more. “I’ll be back before you know it.” I force a smile as I back across the living room toward the foyer. “You should start packing. T-shirts and shorts and lots of swimsuits.”
“Okay,” Bree says, her lips turned down hard.
“But bring jeans and sweatshirts, too. It gets cold on the coast at night, even in the summer.”
“Got it.” She slumps lower on the couch.
I grab my keys from the entry table and slip them into my pocket. “I’ll have extra blankets, but you might also want to bring warm things to sleep in. Sweatpants, maybe a sock cap.”
Bree leans back, throwing an arm across her face. “Fine. Sock caps. Got it. Now go. Leave me and my never-to-be-vanquished V Card in peace.”
Before I think better of it, I’m across the room, gently moving her arm away from her face and not-so-gently claiming her mouth. I kiss her hard and hungry, funneling every ounce of longing pumping through my blood into the dance of my lips against hers.
Once I’m sure she’s good and breathless, I pull back, catching her gaze and holding it. “I’m going to vanquish the hell out of your V Card, doc. Tomorrow. You and me. Super strong condoms and a night you won’t forget. I promise.”
Puck Buddies Page 7
