You Make Me Weak (The Blackwells of Crystal Lake 1)

“This is Shelli Gouthro. She doesn’t just talk to a man.”

“Doesn’t matter. I haven’t seen Hudson in over ten years, so it’s seriously screwed up to get upset because he was talking to a woman.”

“Again. Not just any woman. We’re talking about Shelli.”

Rebecca shook her head. “It’s still screwed up.”

“Not really. You and Hudson have a complicated past. He was your first love. There’s always going to be some kind of territorial thing going on.”

A few seconds of quiet passed. “Well, we sure as hell got territorial last night. I saw him leave, and, I don’t know what I was thinking. I followed him out to the parking lot and threw myself at him.”

“I doubt that.”

“No. I did.” Rebecca winced at the memory. “I told him to take me home and then practically dragged him into the house.”

Violet finished her coffee. “Hudson’s a big boy, and I saw the way he looked at you last night. He didn’t like you with Ethan. That was pretty obvious. Trust me. You didn’t drag him anywhere he didn’t want to be.”

Rebecca waited while her girlfriend topped up her coffee, though she refused any more whiskey. When Violet plopped down beside her, a slow smile spread across her face.

“So,” Violet began, that smile of hers widening. “How was it?”

How was it? Rebecca blew out a long breath, squirming a bit as she thought back to the night before. She was sore, but it was the good kind of sore that came from a long night of hot sex.

“It was good,” she managed to say, avoiding Violet’s eyes.

“Good?” Violet got to her feet. “It was good? Jesus, Rebecca. You have to give me more. Good is when the fettuccine noodles are done just right, or when you break a nail and Ramona at the salon can fit you in. Good is when you’ve made it through the week without overdosing on carbs.” She shook her head. “Seriously. If you’re telling me that sex with Hudson was good, then I’m taking back the donuts, because you so don’t deserve them.”

She reached for the box, but Rebecca grabbed it and held it up. “Okay. God, you’re relentless.” She snagged the last chocolate morsel and popped it in her mouth. “Sex with Hudson was amazing. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Violet slid back onto her chair. “How amazing?”

“Better than chocolate.”

“That’s pretty friggin’ amazing.”

Rebecca was quiet for a few moments. “I thought after the second time, it couldn’t get any better, but then…”

“Second? How many times did you guys get territorial?”

She blushed. “Three.”

Violet dug in for another donut. “And what made door number three better than chocolate?”

How could Rebecca explain it? It wasn’t as if Hudson had done something out of the ordinary. But the way he’d looked at her. The way he’d touched her when he was inside her. Something was different. It had been more intimate. More intense. It had been… More.

And that wasn’t acceptable. That spelled trouble.

“I don’t know. We just… It just was.”

“Okay. I’ll take that for now.” Violet’s eyebrows rose in question. “And then he left?”

“No. He was still there this morning.” Tangled in her sheets. Every single naked inch of him. She’d taken the time to look him over—really look him over, and even now, her body reacted to the sight. His tattoos were intricate. Dangerous. Sexy. His body was perfection. It was muscular and trim. His face, relaxed in sleep, could make an angel weep. And those hands of his—large, male… The things they’d done to her.

“He’s still at your place?” Violet looked surprised.

Rebecca glanced out the window, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. “I don’t know. I left him a note and asked him to leave. Said I’d be back by noon.”

“Wow. That’s kind of harsh, don’t you think?”