Page 28 of Ignition Rites

“Still won.”

We stumble out of the rest of our clothes until shirts and jeans are scattered across his floor, and then we stop.

He’s standing there in his boxers, chest rising a little too fast, looking at me like he’s forgotten whatever smart thing he was about to say. I’m in my red bralette and matching panties, suddenly far more aware of my body than I was when I picked them this morning, and when his gaze moves down me slowly, my nerves spark. I know he wants me. It’s wanting all of me that suddenly feels terrifying.

Then Rafe smiles, not the cocky one, not the grin he gives me right before a bad idea, but something softer.

“You are so fucking beautiful, Lo.”

The compliment lands warm, but soft isn’t what I want from him right now. I want the Rafe who took me around a curve too fast and laughed when I yelled at him afterward, the one who told me the truth everyone else had decided I couldn’t handle, the one who keeps looking at me like he’s waiting to see whether I’ll run toward the bad idea with him.

So I give him an answer. I slide the straps of my bralette down my shoulders without breaking eye contact and pull it over my head.

“Fuck.” His gaze drops immediately. “Lo.”

My confidence comes back all at once, and I hook my fingers into the sides of my panties and push them slowly over my hips and down my thighs until I step out of them.

Rafe looks between me and the last piece of clothing he still has on. “That’s disrespectful.”

I laugh. “You planning to fix it?”

“Was hoping you would.”

“Well, that’s not fair now, is it?” I point at his boxers. “Can I?”

His grin comes back. “Please.”

I close the distance and hook my fingers into the waistband. He’s already hard enough that getting them down takes a little maneuvering, and when I finally free him, I stop for a second.

Rafe notices.

“Oh, now who’s recalculating?”

“Shut up.”

“No, no. Take your time.”

“You’re so annoying.”

“And yet.”

He’s thick, hard, already leaking at the tip, and the sight of him sends a pulse of heat straight between my legs. I run my hand over him once, and his grin disappears, so I do it again, slower, feeling him harden even more against my palm.

“You were saying?”

“Nothing,” he says immediately. “I’ve never spoken before in my life.”

I laugh and push him backward onto the bed.

“Whoa there, baby. Where’s the fire?”

“I need you inside my mouth as soon as possible.”

His eyebrows go up.

“There’s no time like the present.”

“That so?”