“Anngghh,” he groaned.
I began my descent down his body, inch after slow inch, caressing him with my fingers and lips, drawing out sighs and moans and little “oh, yeahs” of appreciation. I wrapped my fingers around his shaft and stroked the smooth skin. I flicked my tongue across his tip. He gripped the sheets and sucked in ragged breaths. I drew him into my mouth and swirled my tongue around his head. His entire body tensed, and he tried to pull away.
He didn’t want to come too fast. He wanted this slow and long and at his direction.
I had other ideas.
Still gripping his shaft, I slid his head into my wet seam, teasing us both with the promise of more, but only allowing an inch, then another, and another. I moved my hand and took him all the way inside me. We both froze and held our breath, now fully joined. I moved slowly, pulling almost completely away from him before sliding back down his length. I did it again. And again.
“Mmm, tease,” he whispered.
“The way you like it.”
He grinned. “I’m not the only one.”
He slid his hand down between us and rubbed my clit, unspooling every last bit of control I’d had until I realized I hadn’t been in charge after all. He’d been the one mastering me the entire time. His hand tightened in my hair, and his mouth ravaged mine. He pumped harder inside me whilestroking me outside. When I teetered on the edge of my orgasm, he slowed his pace and softened the kiss.
I moaned. Spoke in nonsensical words. Arched and tried to take the release that was just outside my reach. But he was in command now. He wanted me to beg. He slowly built the pressure and tempo again, this time pushing me even closer before pulling me back from the brink again. When I tried to arch again, he caught my hips and both my hands to still me.
“Ben, please.Please.”
“Since you asked so nicely.” His voice was raspy and tight.
He thrust up into me fast and hard. I gasped, arched, and rode him as he bucked. Took him deep, so deep. Every cell in my body was alive, filled with light, ready to burst. I hovered at the edge of a high cliff. This time, he didn’t stop. Deep, hard, steady. Pushing me. Pulling me. Tumbling with me.
Our bodies tensed. Our cries mingled until I didn’t know where mine ended and his began. My release rushed through me as he tightened and let go inside me.
I collapsed onto his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and twined his fingers in my hair. We struggled to catch our breath, unable to speak, unable to move. Our heartbeats and breathing fell into sync.
I closed my eyes. I remembered the promise I’d made to myself when I’d seen him yesterday that I wouldn’t fall into his bed again. And I supposed I hadn’t. I’d pulled him intomybed instead. We’d needed closure. One last time together. A chance to part on good terms, maybe even as friends.
There was a small part of me that wondered if the amazing sex we’d just shared would make our inevitable goodbye harder. I silenced it and curled into the warm, strong body beneath me. Tonight, I would enjoy him. Tomorrow, I would move on.Je ne regretterais rien.
He’d been right about friendly fire being dangerous. But how did the old song go?
What a lovely way to burn.
12
BEN
Iwoke up with a sex hangover. Naked. Alone. Wondering how I’d let any of this happen.
That last part was a first for me. I wouldn’t say I regretted it. I didn’t think I had it in me to ever lament sex with Savannah Lindstrom. But we had—Ihad—crossed a line I shouldn’t have. This was a mission. Taking a break from a mission for a romantic interlude was not part of the Ranger code. Still, I couldn’t resist recalling last night’s unsanctioned events in glorious detail.
In the next room, I heard the shower run for a few minutes, then stop. In the interest of not making a spectacle of myself due to my cock’s reaction to said recollection, I climbed out of bed to get dressed. With the help of the light leaking in around the edges of the window shade, I found my shorts and T-shirt on the floor.
I pulled them on, getting a good look at the aftermath of last night on my belly and legs. That reminded me of my carelessness, which was also new to me. As someone who was not a good long-term bet, I knew better than to be reckless.
Shit. I hadn’t evenaskedSavannah about birth control. When we’d dated, she’d been on the pill, although we’d also used condoms. I assumed she wouldn’t have made a movelast night if she wasn’t covered, but I hadn’t even bothered to find out. What kind of an asshole does that? Not that I had any protection with me. That had been an intentional choice when I’d left on my solo vacation to mark the end of one chapter of my life before beginning the next, a celibate sojourn to get my head together.
I couldn’t have foreseen the only woman I’d ever loved walking back into my life when I was so wholly unprepared for it in every way.
Savannah stepped out of the bathroom. I put on a neutral expression and waited to see how she wanted to play this.
“Good, you’re up,” she said. She squeezed past me and fetched her suitcase, which she laid open on the bed. “It’s nearly seven, and I know we need to get on the road by eight, but it looks like there’s a great diner across the street.”
So the play was to pretend last night had never happened. Roger that. It wouldn’t have been my call, but this one was the lady’s choice. “I’ll be ready to go in ten.”
