Triple Dare (Sterling Shore 7)

My eyes roll back in my head, and I hear Corbin getting just as loud as me. All it does is drive me into a frenzy… chasing… wanting… desperate…

Then it happens. Stars detonate behind my eyelids as something explosive erupts inside me. I don’t know if I curse him or praise him, because everything coming out of my mouth sounds so foreign to my ears.

He slams in hard, and then he goes still as his face becomes every girl’s erotic fantasy. Hooded eyes, mouth slightly ajar, and a gaze that could set cities on fire… Yeah, that’ll forever be scorched into my mind.

“Fuck,” he groans, dropping to me like he feels just as exhausted as I do, and he buries his face in my neck. “I’m never using condoms with you again.”

My hand pauses its ministrations, and I swallow against the lump in my throat.

“Birth control isn’t one hundred percent. So many things can interfere with it. A lot of girls get pregnant even if they’re on the pill.”

“If you get pregnant, it just means I get to keep you no matter what you want,” he says against my neck, still panting for air.

Yeah… Might as well just hand him my whole damn heart. He’s going to steal it anyway.

He stays inside me until it becomes sort of pointless, if you know what I mean. When he rolls over onto his back, I make a quick run to the bathroom on very unsteady legs, cleaning up while he recovers.

When I come back out, he’s on his back, and his chest is still moving pretty fast, as though he’s struggling to catch his breath. Yeah, that makes a girl feel good.

He watches me, licking his lips as I slowly crawl back onto the bed, coming to rest my body half way on his, since he’s more comfortable than the pile of bricks he calls a bed.

His arms go around me, and he winks at me like he’s proud of himself. He should be.

“No additional bruises, so that’s a good sign,” I tell him, trying to kill the perfect moment with humor before I blurt out something stupid.

He chuckles lightly before brushing a kiss on my lips, then he pulls back and seriousness clouds his eyes.

“So we’re okay?”

That boyish insecurity is back in his eyes. Even when he was just a kid, Corbin never looked insecure.

There goes yet another piece of my damned heart.

I nod, but add, “I still want to know what happened. Why do you suddenly want me now, when you couldn’t stomach the idea of touching me like that then?”

He groans and screws his eyes shut, but I’m not backing down.

“I lied,” he says under his breath. “The only fucking girl I’ve ever wanted was you, Ruby.”

That makes no sense.

“Then why did you—”

“Because I was a stupid cunt puddle.”

I snort out a laugh when he catches me off guard with that, and his lips twitch as his eyes meet mine.

“I’ll tell you everything, but you have to promise not to get pissed and walk out. Deal?”

I nod, inching closer as I remind myself over and over that it’s in the past.

“At fifteen, I couldn’t fuck you, because I was a virgin. I thought you’d be my last. I was nervous, had no clue what I was doing, and I wasn’t going to cheat on you. I also thought it was stupid to be planning forever at fifteen. So I panicked and broke up with you.”

My lips turn down, and he thumbs the wrinkle on my forehead. Still confused.

“At sixteen and nineteen… Don’t get pissed. Promise not to get pissed when I tell you the rest,” he says, closing his eyes like he can’t look at me.

This must be really bad, and I regret asking now.

“Just tell me, Corbin. Tell me everything. I think I deserve to know.”

Regret fills his eyes as he looks at me again, and his lips thin.

CHAPTER 33

CORBIN

I expected her to get pissed. I expected her to throw things and remind me what a fucking idiot I am. I was prepared for a lot of violence. I even had a pillow clutched in my hand, prepared to defend myself as I recounted the worst decisions of my life.

Instead? She’s still fucking laughing twenty minutes later, and she’s turning a concerning shade of purple.

“You’re such a dumbass,” she says through her laughter, wiping away tears as she holds her stomach.

Me? I’m trying not to seethe right now.

“Glad you find it all so amusing,” I mutter dryly, which only provokes her to laugh that much harder.

My phone rings, but I ignore it again. It’s been ringing since we got here, but I’ve barely paid it any attention. I’m sure it’s my mother who is beyond pissed that I just left without an explanation. Or it’s one of my lawyers calling about the new company I’m damn determined to buy out.