Offensive Behavior

He took her chin in his other hand and brought her head up. “I need to see you.”

The sound of his voice, whiskey deep and bourbon low, made her want to climb him. “I need you in me.”

Abruptly he took his hand away and moved, shut the water off and pulled a towel around her shoulders, made a rough attempt at drying himself. “It has to be about you now. I should’ve thought. I don’t have condoms.”

Only Reid could say that and get away with it.

But he looked like someone just ran over his beloved dog.

She had condoms and she should insist he use them. But she was clean and so was he, and she had not getting pregnant covered with the best birth control money could buy, and an intimate knowledge of her cycle. Lightning wasn’t striking the same place twice, and if it did, she had options she hadn’t considered at eighteen.

“I’m tested regularly and I’m clean, Lou insists.” She held her arm up and pointed to the faint shadow of the implant. “I’m on birth control. We don’t need anything.”

“Truth, because I . . .” He tried to be noble and failed.

“I have condoms and I could insist you use them, but we’re good to go. We’re perfect.” They were also sleepless, full of breakfast sugar and high on each other. Reid was no less edgy than he had been, and Zarley was finding it hard to stay centered on him, she wanted to climb his body and shake him to his core.

“When you thought about this, how did you want it to be?

He dumped his towel, grabbed the end of hers and used it to pull her body into the gorgeous clean warmth of him. “I didn’t want a pity fuck.”

She gripped his face in both hands and gave him a fierce look. “You know this is not like that.” His eye contact flickered, and he moved his head, dislodging her hands. Oh, goddamn, he didn’t know. “You do it to me, Reid. All of you, smart and stupid, brave and alone. You get to me. Your body, the way you think. You’re arrogant, opinionated, stubborn and persistent, and I like all of those things on you. And that I get to have you first.” She wound her arms around his neck. “You have no idea how much I like that. How much I like you don’t make me feel ashamed.”

He fixed on her eyes. “Ashamed of what?”

Being the town slut who ruined her chance to represent her country at the Olympics, who missed her chance at a medal. Who went off the rails and stuffed up her life. Who dances in a two-bit dive because it’s the only thing she’s qualified to do and she hasn’t gotten over the old dream yet. “Of being the experienced one.”

“Someone has to be the adult here and it’s not me.” He gave a rough laugh. “We are perfect.” He let the towel drop to wrap his arms around her. “Someone made you feel ashamed for liking sex, and I’m ashamed I took so long to get around to it.

“No shame between us, no pity, no lies, no mistakes, no stupid promises.” She stood on his feet and bit his pec, where the words were written. “Just lots and lots of crazy hot mind-blowing sex till we’re tired of each other.”

“That’s a plan I can get with.”

“Take me to bed and wreck me, Reid.”

Arm behind her knees, he lifted her, strode into the bedroom, stopped at the foot of the bed and tossed her onto it. She landed with a squeal of delight, sitting on her tail, legs out in front, and lay back as he crawled over her. He’d lost the anxious hesitancy, the get me out of here before I break something look in his eyes, and she’d relieved him of that as much as she’d excited him.

This thing they had could get addictive.

He braced over her on his hands and knees, wet hair falling over his forehead. “I never let myself think about how I wanted this. Too dangerous. I watched porn and got myself off but it never meant anything, a distraction, a relief. Your skin, the way you smell, the way you move, how you react to me, make me feel, it’s nothing I imagined and everything I was afraid to want.”

She reached for him. “Take what you want, however you want it. I’m yours.”

He lowered himself to one side, braced on one elbow and traced a finger gently over her top lip, then bent to kiss her opening his mouth, demanding, his tongue probing. Then his lips were on her chin, her neck, her sternum. He made her stomach quiver when he licked into her belly button, then down, down, sucking, teasing kisses across the crest of one hip that made her twitch and twist, till he sat back on his haunches between her legs with a look of pure lechery on his face.

She parted her legs, just a little, and his breath went raspy as he put his hands to her knees and opened her legs out. She was wet and they both heard the slick sound of it.

He studied her like there’d be a test later, like he was trying to see how the parts fitted together, and she should’ve felt weird about that, exposed, except for the awe she saw when his eyes came ba

ck to hers.

“Beautiful.” He ran a finger from end to end and settled it over the nub of her clit and her hips left the bed.

He smiled, delighted. “You like that.”

“Do it again.”

“Too much I want to do. Touch you, lick you, suck you, but I’m not going to hold out much longer.” He pressed his cock against his stomach. He was long and thick and very, very ready. “I want to be inside you so much it hurts.”