A fierce new erection tented his swim trunks as a fresh wave of heat overtook him. He’d tried to be controlled, friendly even, while every pore and fiber in his being had screamed with the need to feel every inch of her naked flesh against his. He’d wanted to taste her sweet mouth, to cup the soft, full mounds of her buttocks in his hands and squeeze them as he pumped every last drop of need inside her.
Of course she could not find pleasure in the men she dated.
They were companions to her, not lovers. They’d been shields to keep Daniel away, and it had worked. Daniel had been watching her with them for years, all the while telling himself that she would always be the Ice Maiden to them.
They didn’t understand her like Daniel did. She needed to be challenged, but not completely dominated. She needed to feel both trustful and protected, but not vulnerable. She sought weaker men to feel safe, but she didn’t realize she needed one that was stronger. She was used to pushing people away, and if you got too close, too fast, you were done for.
Daniel was nobody’s fuck buddy.
His buddies were men, all of them except Monica.
But last night he’d have done anything to get in bed with her and finish what he’d started so many years before, in a small twin bed in his parents’ guest bedroom.
He’d agreed to two weeks with her. Two weeks, where the line of physical distance she’d drawn for him a decade ago would be erased, where she would settle on his lap and pump her hips into his fingers and ask to take his shirt off, his pants off. God.
When she’d lightly stroked his straining cock after he’d been watching those moans tumble out of her parted lips, his body had reacted with all the painful intensity of a teenager’s. He’d climaxed like he hadn’t climaxed in his life, but he was still not satisfied.
A deep-rooted need for her gnawed at him, deep in his gut, where it most hurt. His body throbbed. He wanted to feel her flesh caressing him, surrounding him. He had never felt so ravenous before.
He thought he could control this hunger. He’d been controlling it for years. But like some underfed, abused beast, it was out of its cage, and Daniel feared no amount of willpower would hold it back now.
Only Monica held the cards here. She had to be the one that called, she had set the ground rules for him. Now he got to play the part of sitting around, waiting, with this infernal boner. Shit.
He groaned and submerged under water, surfacing to slick his hair back in frustration.
“Lexington!” his trainer called. “Get your head out of your ass and do those fucking laps!”
* * *
Exactly fourteen hours later, his friends were laughing about Daniel firing Rico Manrico.
They were having poker night, at Cade’s place, and Daniel swung down his third Aviation gin for the night with one hand while keeping his cards open with the other.
“So the brass-ball winner of the week definitely must be Daniel,” Luke said, across the poker table from him, still chuckling.
“No shit,” said Cade.
Luke scowled down at his cards. “I always hated that sucker. I’m surprised you put up with him this long, man.” He exchanged two cards from the deck. “Can’t see why anyone needs him when everyone knows the most important muscle gets exercised pretty damned well with fucking.”
“Your cock is not a muscle, dickwad,” Graves said.
“I meant the heart,” Luke accused. “Hell, man, I knew you were going to think dirty. What’s wrong with you, Graves? Is that all that’s on your mind now that Chloe’s moved in? She’s got your brain scrambled.”
Daniel stiffened, then he pulled off his Ray-Bans so he could fiercely glare at smart-mouthed Luke Preston. “That’s my sister you’re talking about, toad.”
“Whoa, hold your horses, buddy. You’re awfully sensitive today. Maybe you do miss getting fucked in the ass by Rico.”
“The only one getting ass fucked today will be you,” Daniel said, going all in. His cell buzzed as his friends started calling his bet, and he set down his cards and tapped on the screen.
Hey u. Are u busy?
His pulse skyrocketed through the roof, and the fine hairs on his body stood up at the electrical thrill of seeing Monica’s name above the text. He quickly replied:
No
A bland lie. He restlessly rubbed the back of his neck as he waited for her reply, his dick already hard as a spike. The memory of her slick sex clenching hotly against his fingers shimmered through him, heating every fiber in his body, making him throb. Come on, come on. Answer me, princess.
“Your face just lit up like Las Vegas. Who is that?” Luke demanded.