Page 39 of Ghost Among Lies

"What about a self-induced orgasm?"

Sloane shook her head. The hint of pink on her cheeks told me she was embarrassed by the admission.

Well, shit. That changed things dramatically. "Ummm, okay." I grabbed the back of my neck. Suddenly very nervous.

"You don't want to have sex with me?"

I grabbed her hand and placed it on the tent in my shorts. "Does that feel like I don't want sex with you?" Her pupils dilated. "It's not that at all. I want to make sure you enjoy what I do to you, and I'm going to be honest here. I'm a little worried I'm going to screw it up."

Sloane snickered. "Considering I don't have anything to compare you to, I don't think that's something you need to worry about."

Fair point. I tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and asked, "Are you sure this is what you want?"

She leaned into my hand. "More than anything. I want you to erase the bad and only show me how good touch can feel."

Sloane was giving me her trust, and I would cherish it forever.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

SLOANE

If Hayes didn't touch me soon, I was going to combust. Not to mention my psyche couldn't handle the rejection. I'd waited almost a dozen years for this to happen, and another moment just might kill me.

Thankfully, he didn't make me wait long. Grabbing my ass, he lifted me up so my legs wrapped around his waist. The erection I had felt with my hand was now nestled right where I wanted it. Too bad there were several layers between us.

I dragged my nails along the back of his hair and smiled when he all but purred. I snickered. "I guess that answers my question, if you still like this."

"I didn't realize how much I missed it until now. It was never the same when I tried to do it myself to calm down."

Hayes didn't rush up the stairs like I expected him to. He took his time and made me feel comfortable. I thought I would be nervous, but in my heart, I knew Hayes would take care of me. He always did.

But damn, I wanted heat. I wanted rip-off-your-clothes passion. I wanted him to want me as much as I wanted him.

So when he finally got me into my bedroom and tried to kiss me slowly, I voiced my displeasure with a groan and bite to his bottom lip.

Hayes pulled back and stared at me in disbelief. "Did you just bite me? And not in a sexy way."

"I did. You have some notion that because you're 'my first'––yes, I verbally air quoted those two words. Sue me––that I'm suddenly delicate. I'm not fragile. Unless you consider a bomb fragile."

Okay, maybe I was being a bit dramatic, but damn, I waited a really long-ass time for this. I should think my reward was crazy monkey sex.

"Yeah…a bomb is definitely fragile."

I rolled my eyes. "Listen, Hayes. I love you. I never stopped. But everyone knows there's a very fine line between love and hate. So unless you want to find out just how easy it is to dance across the line, I suggest you ravish me."

I was slightly out of breath from my little rant. And I knew my words didn't penetrate––and I certainly wanted penetration soon before my nerves did kick in––when Hayes' eyes went soft.

"You still love me?"

"Seriously?" I leaned back and slapped him on his shoulder. A true testament to my core strength, considering my legs were still wrapped around his waist. "That's all you got from that? Dammit, Hayes. Screw me already."

His lips tipped up into a devilishly sexy lopsided smirk. "As you wish, Sunshine."

Hayes spun around and marched us over to my bed. With an unceremonious motion, he unwrapped my legs and hurdled me into the air so when I hit the soft bed, my body bounced a bit.

"Strip, Sunshine. I want to see that perfectly sexy body spread out for me."

I scrambled to do his bidding. There was absolutely no finesse in the way I tore my clothes off. Hell, taking my pants off proved I lacked grace when they got tangled around my ankles. For half a second, I thought they might rip with how much force I was using to detach them from my body. Luckily, I won in the end, and the traitorous piece of fabric was sent sailing across the room.