Trip tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling. A long moment later he dropped it and pulled away, giving them at least a few inches of space. But he was still too close. “You’re right. Goin’ about this the wrong way.”
“You shouldn’t be going about this at all. I’ve got nothing to give you, Trip. Nothing. You’re trying to claim someone who won’t make you stronger, but who might pull you down.”
“Bullshit.”
“Trip,” she whispered as she closed her eyes. “Listen...” She had to make him understand without revealing what needed to remain buried.
Her eyes flicked open as his fingers grabbed her chin and he yanked her face up. “No, you fuckin’ listen. Know what I fuckin’ see in you, Stella. I see it clearly. Maybe you don’t. Not sure what fucked up your head, but I still see who you are deep inside. That stubbornness, that determination. That’s who I need at my side. A woman like that. Someone fuckin’ loyal. Someone who’s got my back. Someone who’s got a spine of fuckin’ steel and balls to match. That’s you.”
“No.”
“Yeah, baby, it’s you.”
“It used to be. Not anymore.”
“Think we had a conversation about when life kicks you in the nuts. The pain has passed, Stella, now you gotta rise up and fight back.”
“You don’t even know...”
“Right. I don’t know. I wanna know and you’re gonna tell me.” He lifted a hand to cut off her protest. “When you’re ready.”
What, he wasn’t going to demand she spill her guts?
“We’re stronger together, Stella,” he said softly.
“How do you know that?”
“I just do.”
“That’s not even a good answer.”
“But it’s an answer.”
“Holy shit,” she muttered under her breath. She shook her head, trying to shake the craziness out of it. Was this really happening? “We only had sex once, Trip, and now your hinting at me moving in with you.”
“Not hinting. And we’re gonna change that other fact, too.”
“We are?”
“Yeah, baby, we are. You fuckin’ snuck off before I could finish what I started.”
“That was the point, Trip.”
His eyelids got heavy and he gave her a slow grin. “Didn’t like what I was doin’?” She opened her mouth and he pressed his finger to her lips. “Told you I don’t like liars.”
She decided not to lie. “It was the first time in a long time that I’ve felt alive.”
“You’re definitely alive, baby, and I’ll prove it to you.”
He took her mouth, burying his fingers into her hair, arching her neck back as he increased the pressure of his lips. The hand over her leggings at her pussy squeezed so hard it made her gasp, but it also made her throb.
And want so much more.
Their tongues tangled and their breathing caught when he removed his hand to only slide it between the fabric and her skin. She wore no panties, nothing stopped him from reaching his destination.
His middle finger pressed on her clit, then circled it a couple of times before continuing lower, separating her folds which were getting slicker by the second.
Cupping her, he slid that long finger of his into her. She couldn’t hide her body’s reaction to him and his Neanderthal-like mentality.
Claim.
Eat.
Fuck.
He just needed to grunt, club her over the head and toss her over his shoulder, and evolution had gone backward millions of years.
If this was anybody else but Trip, she wouldn’t be tolerating it. But with him? For some reason, she was.
At eleven she had foolishly pursued a boy who wanted nothing to do with her.
Now, the tables have turned.
Chapter Ten
Had the tables turned? While, yes, Trip’s relentless pursuit of her was unexpected, was it all one-sided? Had the last twenty years purged him from her system?
Her body was saying otherwise as he continued to make her breathless with not only his kiss but with what he was doing with his fingers.
And what he was doing was about to make her come.
Unlike the time in the bar, no anger or frustration was behind it for either one of them. No need for anything but the pleasure he was bringing.
She missed being touched like this, letting everything go except for what was currently happening.
Losing herself in Trip instead of her memories.
She hadn’t been this wet in forever. Not since her relationship with her husband had been new and exciting.
Before things began to change.
Trip pulled away just enough to end the kiss. “You were with me. Now you’re not.”
She realized his hand had stilled, though two of his fingers remained inside her and his thumb on her clit. He began to move them again and she sucked in a sharp breath.
“You with me?”
“Yes,” she breathed, closing her eyes and dropping her head back far enough it pressed against one of the kitchen cabinets. “Yes,” she repeated as he began to plunge his fingers in and out of her wetness faster.
“Gimme your mouth,” he demanded.