Stripped Down (Tap That)

She blinked but didn’t really mind the light. It was soft, and she felt far too old to be fumbling around in the dark. She was nervous but that was just because this was impulsive and it had been so long since she’d been with another man. But not shy.

Rick was hot and she might as well enjoy the view. There was nothing of the goofy teenager left in him. He had been more than compensated for those awkward years by what God gave him later.

If he said he was God’s gift to women she wasn’t even sure she would argue.

“Where do you want me to kiss you?” he asked.

“I have options?” The look was heady. “Well. Let’s just pick up where we left off.”

Her bedroom was dark and quiet. She kept the blinds tightly closed because despite it being a small town, her apartment was in a busy area. She wasn’t used to being so close to neighbors or streetlights. In Minneapolis she and Tom had bought a big house in the suburbs so her dog had room to run. Or more accurately, Tom had bought a big house.

Dang it. Now she was missing her dog all over again.

This entire night was nothing but an emotional jerk-around.

That was the last year in a nutshell.

Rick climbed on her bed. The creaking of the mattress seemed loud in the still night air.

Just seeing him moving toward her, his chest bare, expression intense and sexual, had her nipples tightening with anticipation. She wasn’t sure she’d ever experienced lust at first sight the way she had with Rick when she’d seen him on stage. Having been married for so long meant she hadn’t been looking and before that, she’d been a teenager. Making out had been fun, not something that inspired a deep wet ache between her thighs.

Except when Rick had kissed her in the bathroom.

Crazy.

Now he was going to kiss her again and she shivered. Legit shivered. It was almost embarrassing.

Rick eased his hand into her hair, drawing it back away from her face. He had those rough large man hands. She’d never been touched by hands like that. It made her feel delicate, something her height didn’t usually allow her to feel.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured. “I’ve thought so since I was twelve years old. Just gorgeous.”

It wasn’t a line. She had known in high school he had thought she was hot. He’d followed her around like a panting puppy, trying to get her to laugh. Maybe knowing Rick, knowing he was speaking the truth, touched her. She wasn’t always great at accepting compliments—O’Tooles didn’t like positive emotion any more than negative emotion—but Rick’s words made her feel warm inside.

“Thanks. I think you already know what I think of you.” In fact, Sloane wanted to explore that chest. The hard, muscular, golden chest. She spread her palms over his warm flesh and did just that.

“I do. You think I’m a hottie.” He grinned at her.

Sloane pushed his chest. “No. I think you’re obnoxious.”

“Liar.”

“Shut up and kiss me.” Sloane wanted to have the confidence to kiss him herself. To take what she wanted. But she had been out of the game too long to have any choreography. She felt off-kilter and she wanted him to take charge.

It seemed to be all the encouragement Rick needed. He moved over the length of her body, his palm down on the mattress framing her head in on one side. He lowered his head. She parted her lips automatically. She tried to keep her eyes open, wanting to see his eyes but when his lips touched hers her lids drifted shut without conscious thought on her part. She just wanted to feel. To experience this moment of sensual, soft touch.

He knew how to kiss.

There was no awkwardness. He was smooth, like whiskey, feathering kisses over her lips, in each corner of her mouth, then full on. It was soft, but she wouldn’t call it gentle. It was seductive. A dance. His hand ran down her side and back up again, brushing against the side of her breast. Sloane heard herself gasp at that brief contact. She wanted to grab him and shake him and demand he just take her, hard. But she reminded herself in her head over and over that he knew what he was doing more than she did, so she had to let Rick do his thing. The one hundred percent satisfaction guarantee would be void if she rushed him.

When his tongue teased over her bottom lip she gave a small sigh.

Then he bit her lip. Not hard, just a playful nip and she felt it reverberate through her body. A hot sharp tingle that spread out and landed deep inside her. Nothing this small should feel this good. She wasn’t sure if it was Rick or the fact that she hadn’t experienced true desire in a long time.

Hell, maybe she never had.

She felt tense from anticipation and she told herself to relax, but it was just so foreign to be with someone else that she found herself pulling away and explaining. “It’s been ten years since I had sex with someone new. I feel like my heart is going to tear out of my chest. I’m nervous, Rick, I can’t help it. I don’t want to be, but I am.”

The look he gave her made her mind go blank. He was so serious, so intense. He was staring deep into her eyes like she was the only woman he’d ever seen. “Sloane. I get this is a big deal. I am humbled that you are willing to get naked with me and let me inside you. I don’t take that lightly. All I ask is that you relax and tell me when you like or don’t like something.”