Okay, straight talk.
I have a personal rule, enacted soon after I came out of the post-tragedy haze and started going out on occasional dates again.
No sex with anyone I actually like, or can see myself liking in the future. Nothing that could possibly lead to romantic entanglements, falling in love, heartbreak. I can’t deal with a major loss—not again.
It’s the one thing that’s always held me back with Kirin, as much as Jessa always teased me about it.
I like Kirin—I have for a long time now. That automatically makes him a bad candidate, because if circumstances were right, I could put myself right on the path to heartbreak.
But Baz?
He’s impossibly sexy, strong, mysterious… and he should totally come with a warning label. I’ve only known him a few days, but already he drives me crazy at the best of times. If we were in a relationship, I’m 99% sure one of us would end up looking for a place to hide the body, probably sooner rather than later.
So that makes Baz a pretty safe bet for a little fun.
No chance of a relationship. No chance of getting hurt when that relationship comes to its inevitable end.
So maybe that’s why I squeeze his hand now, close the last of the space between us, and look at him with a smile that can only be interpreted in one way.
“Um, Stevie? I don’t want to make assumptions, but—”
“But in this case you’re totally right and if you don’t kiss me right now I swear I’m going to tear off my—”
Baz grabs the back of my head, claiming my mouth in a fiercely possessive kiss I feel all the way down in the bones of my bones. He backs me up until my shoulders hit the rock, staking his claim with every delicious stroke of his tongue, every soft moan he unleashes from my lips. His scent invades my senses—smokey and earthy, a hint of black pepper, sexy and masculine.
Just when I’m certain I’m about to pass out from lack of oxygen, he breaks our kiss and spins me around, pinning me against the rock from behind, pressing his body against mine as he devours my neck with kisses, trailing his lips down to my shoulder and back again, his hand sliding across my waist, slipping into my waistband.
“Okay?” he whispers in my ear, his breath hot.
“Don’t stop,” I say.
Baz groans in response, his fingers sliding deeper, seeking my wet heat. He teases my clit, making slow circles, then dipping lower, his teeth grazing my earlobe, and holy hell my legs are already starting to tremble…
Goddess, I want him. All of him. No more teasing and touching. I need to feel him inside me. Now.
“Wait, wait!” I cry out.
He stops immediately, and I turn around to face him, panting from his touch.
“You okay?” he asks.
I nod emphatically. “But if we’re going to do this—we need some ground rules.”
He blinks at me, a little shell-shocked, then smiles.
“So you’re not just a pain in the ass, but a high maintenance pain in the ass?” His tone is light and teasing, even as his cock presses urgently against his jeans. “Why am I not surprised?”
“I just mean this has to be a one-time thing. One and done.” I put a hand on his chest, still trying to catch my breath. His heart is thudding as hard and fast as mine. “And we never speak of it again—not to each other, and absolutely not to anyone else.”
He lifts a shoulder in a casual shrug, but I can feel his energy—he doesn’t like the idea. Which part, specifically, I’m not sure.
“Fine by me,” he says anyway.
“That’s all you have to say about it? Fine by me?”
“Nothing else to say.”
“Okay, well you’re definitely not the most romantic man I’ve ever met.”
