Without hesitating, he rubbed his chest against each of her aching breasts. She let out a stuttering sigh. Against her ear, he whispered. “You feel incredible.”
Before she could reciprocate, or reset her addled brain, he lowered his head and pulled a nipple onto his tongue, sucking her deep into his mouth. A tight sound left her throat as she dropped her head against the door with a soft thunk. His mouth felt so good tears pricked the corners of her eyes. She squeezed them shut. He’d barely touched her and she was coming undone, her bones rattling hard enough to unhinge from her joints and collapse her to the floor.
And they hadn’t even started yet.
He pulled his tongue from her flesh, and she met his gaze—the hot look in his eyes. “You need this,” he stated.
She did. She hadn’t had a release worthy of mentioning in… a while. “Am I that obvious?”
He thumbed a nipple and watched her expectantly. “Say it.” A command.
Electric shocks radiated between her thighs. He thumbed her other nipple.
She squeezed her legs together and on a surrendering breath, said, “I need this.”
* * *
Some part of Landon warned him to stop. Which was insane. He had Kimber naked, pressed against a door, her pert breasts heaving, her lips damp, her nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
Stopping now would be crazy.
But there was something in the way she’d said ‘I need this’ that gave him pause. A sense of foreboding clouded over him.
Relax. She said she needs “this,” not “you.”
True. And isn’t that what they’d discussed when they’d agreed to do the list in the first place? To indulge, then walk away unscathed? He felt the need to remind them both of that deal.
“Kimber.”
She opened drowsy eyes and he moved his hands to neutral territory—her arms—so he’d have her full attention. He wanted her alert. It wasn’t like she was the kind of girl who had lists and flings and short-term sexual relationships.
Hell, he wasn’t that kind of guy. But he also wasn’t willing to climb into the commitment boat again. Not after Lissa had thoroughly broken their agreement. Not after he had to start over at age thirty-seven. If he did make another arrangement with a woman, Kimber would not be on his list of options. She was transparent, fragile. Honest and giving. He didn’t want giving. He needed a woman selfish enough to walk away if things didn’t work out. He needed a woman who could compartmentalize their time in the bedroom and treat him like an acquaintance during the daylight.
Kimber was none of those things, he thought with a frown. This is a mistake.
“Don’t say it,” she warned. Vulnerability reflected in her eyes, even as she urged him on, palming the door and arching her back. He couldn’t keep from sending a lingering, heated gaze down her supple body. He grew harder just seeing her there; offering herself up to him like some virgin sacrifice. No. Not a virgin.
Thank Christ. He for sure couldn’t go there.
“You read my mind now?” he asked.
“You’re going to ask me if I’m sure I can do this. If I’m cut out for a fling. If I can keep my heart out of it.”
Good guess. “Can you?”
She grabbed the waistband of his pants, sliding her fingers into his boxer briefs and brushing the head of his penis. He let out a sharp, hot breath and he squeezed her arms, wedging his teeth together. His member throbbed. You’re not the only one who wants closer to her, buddy.
But he had to clear this up, or he would refuse to go any further. Regardless of how badly he wanted her.
“I’ll admit,” she said, her voice holding a surety it hadn’t possessed earlier, “this is not something I’m good at.”
He had to disagree.
She frowned, then clarified, “I don’t mean I’m not good at sex. I mean, I’m not bragging that I’m good, but—” She cut herself off, shook her head.
He couldn’t help smiling. She was muddled and adorable and so damn different from any woman he’d known. She was… Don’t think it. Kimber couldn’t be some precious, special thing. He could like her. He could make love to her, but he wouldn’t drag her into something long-term. She wasn’t cut out for it, not with a guy like him. No matter how sure she claimed to be.
“I have trouble with the walking away part,” she blurted.
He wanted her to take it back. She was so transparent. Too transparent. Part of him didn’t want to be trusted with any fragile piece of her.
“But I promise you this. I will walk away.” The fierceness in her eyes made him believe her. It also made him question why this woman, who had so much love to give, who was irresistible and adorable, would settle for a short-term, meaningless fling.