Theirs to Keep

Yikes.

I reached out for Roderick instinctively, and his arms were already open to take me in. I melted into him just as the thunder crashed. His arms wrapped around me, protecting me from the outside world. Shielding me from the spectacular explosion as my face dug comfortingly into his big, broad chest.

His bare chest.

“I… thought we were doing T-shirts?” I murmured.

Even after the thunder subsided, I didn’t pull away. He didn’t remove his arms, either.

“You are, I’m not,” he said gently. “I never sleep in a shirt.”

His touch was hard and strong, and so very, very warm. I felt my body relaxing against his. The built-up tension of the thunderstorm, melting away.

“Want me to put one on?” he asked.

“Fuck no,” I murmured into his chest.

Roderick chuckled and my whole body shook. “See? Filthy mouth.”

I rubbed my cheek lightly against one of his hard, unblemished pectorals. “May as well own up to it.”

For a minute or two we just lay there, listening to the storm. The rain was hypnotic, the wind like the droning of some familiar yet forgotten song.

Karissa, don’t even think about it.

Beneath the blankets, our bodies were growing closer. Inch by inch, centimeter by centimeter, our arms and legs slid together.

“We’re just going to sleep,” Roderick murmured abruptly. “Right?”

His skin smelled like soap, mixed with all things manly. It was the best kind of smell.

“Uh, sure.”

One of my hands found the flat of his stomach. I allowed my palm to glide over it, not even sure what the fuck I was doing.

What the fuck are you doing?

“You did win the bet though,” I reasoned carefully. “That’s got to be worth something.”

“It was,” said Roderick. “I got to take you to bed.”

“You were taking me to bed anyway.”

He made a face, and I laughed. Tilting my chin, I looked up at him.

“I could let you have something else,” I said. “Sort of a…”

“Consolation prize?”

I nuzzled him some more. God it felt good.

“I was going to say bonus prize. But yeah.”

My host hesitated, but only for a moment. I could almost see the internal struggle. The battle for good and evil, taking place within his brain.

“What exactly did you have in mind?”

Without thinking — and before I could stop myself — I took his hand and slid it straight up my shirt. It settled heavily over one warm, full breast.