Heroic Measures (Blackbridge Security 6)

God, do I want her to come back. Hell, I don’t think I want her to leave.

I wrap my arm tighter around her waist and pull her closer.

I still her hand when she reaches for my erection. I’m tired, but just the thought of getting inside of her again turns me on.

“I can’t,” I whisper. “I give up. I need longer than a two-hour break.”

“But you’re hard.”

I laugh, the movement of it in my chest shaking her as she lies on me.

“I’m always hard around you. My body can’t take any more. You win.”

Her hand falls away, a relieved sigh on her lips, but when I press my lips to her shoulder, she stiffens against me. I know she’s going to close down. I’ve admitted defeat, and that means her game is over.

“Let’s get some sleep,” I say, hoping she’ll agree. “I’ll be good to go by morning.”

The sun set a few hours ago, but the night is still young. I doubt either of us would be in bed right now if we were alone.

“We can order dinner, maybe watch a movie.”

And that makes her roll off of me. I’ve said the wrong thing once again.

My heart clenches. I’d told her days ago that I wanted some level of friendship with her while we were doing this, and I guess it’s my fault for not asking questions when she showed up yesterday evening with her outrageous proposition. It looks like we’re in exactly the same spot we’ve always been.

I truly wish I could just have fun and not read too much into every word, every action of hers from the last day, but I have. I’ve held on to every smile, every whisper of touch against my skin, every single damn time she whispered my name, including the one time it was on her lips while she was sleeping.

I thought it meant more, that she was opening herself up to feel more for me than just someone to get her off. Clearly, I was wrong.

“I need to get going.” She grabs her clothes from where they were put on the dresser and begins to dress. She isn’t going as quickly as I’d expect a woman in a rush to leave would. In fact, she seems a little reluctant to get out of here.

I try to use it to my advantage, offering a warm bath and chick flick.

She gives me a soft smile. “I should really go.”

“You don’t have to,” I argue. “I like having you here.”

She turns her back to me. “And that’s why I need to go.”

I open my mouth to argue, but clamp it closed. I don’t know what will make her stay, but I know starting an argument isn’t it. I try a different tactic.

“I had a lot of fun. Can’t wait for my next lesson.”

She scoffs, and not in a way that makes me think she’s making plans. “No more lessons. You already know everything.”

“Are you calling me an expert?”

Her eyes are happy as she turns around to face me, leggings now covering her bottom half.

“A fast learner.”

“A refresher course then. I don’t want to get rusty so quickly.”

“There are plenty of—” Her mouth clamps closed, and she doesn’t know how lucky she is.

If she told me there are plenty of other women to practice my newly discovered skills on, I’d lose my damn mind.

“Maybe,” she says instead, her eyes tracing down the length of my still reclined body.

“You look hungry,” I say, my thumb gently stroking the underside of my cock. “The offer still stands for dinner. There’s a great Italian place that delivers. I’ll let you pick the movie.”

She clears her throat as if she’s embarrassed for me because I’m practically begging her to stay.

“I had a good time,” she says, tugging on her shoes before leaning over to brush a kiss on my cheek.

She doesn’t say another word as she leaves the room and a few seconds later, my front door closes.

I glare up at the ceiling as if the answers to all of life’s questions are written there, but I find nothing except the ceiling fan slowly turning, and that’s the rub isn’t it. She just walked out, and the world keep on spinning. Time still ticks by. My heart is slow in my chest as if she’s taken a little piece of it with her and it doesn’t know how to deal with the loss.

All of that makes me think I’m absolutely crazy. We have no connection aside from great sex. We haven’t spent hours holding each other and talking about our pasts or mentioning goals for the future. If we weren’t actively engaging in some sort of sexual activity, we were either napping or fueling up for more while bantering about sexual things. It’s been all about sex, and I want to curse the world for not sprinkling little bits of non-sexual things in over the last twenty-four hours. Maybe it would’ve drawn out her departure, but I get the gut feeling that it would’ve just made her leave even sooner than she did.