The way he used his barbell piercings to stimulate her nipples.
The way he grabbed her hair, pulled her head back and buried his face against her arched neck.
The way his teeth scraped along her throat.
A soft gasp escaped her.
His other hand wedged between their bodies and found her clit. Teasing her into a frenzy.
A low groan escaped her strained throat. “Deke...”
He powered up and into her. Over and over. Sucking her skin, circling her hard, sensitive nub.
Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more of his slow pace, his body hitched and he groaned against her skin.
Did he come? Before she did?
Oh no. He better not have—
Oh, thank fuck, he didn’t. He was digging his knees more firmly into the rug. And began to thrust so hard, her whole body jolted.
“Fuck, babe,” he moaned.
He released her hair, planted his palm on the floor and raised his torso. His eyes caught hers and held. His jaw was tight, the muscles in his arm bulging.
She reached up and twisted both of his barbells. He dropped his head and grimaced.
“Gonna come,” he grunted.
She twisted them again.
“Gonna come,” he warned roughly.
She didn’t care. She didn’t...
Because so was she.
She threw her head back, breaking their locked gaze, opened her mouth and a wail escaped her that made Justice run over and check to make sure she was okay.
With a low grunt, Deacon thrusted one more time and stilled deep inside her, dropping his head, his ragged breath beating against her heated skin.
A few seconds later, when his muscles loosened, he lifted his head and pushed a concerned Justice out of the way. “Get, Jussie!”
The dog moved away, jumped on her sofa and with a groan curled up against the couch arm. Then he hiked up his back leg and began to lick his balls.
Great.
Deke dropped to his forearms and kissed her slowly and gently for a few seconds, then with his own groan, slipped from her and to her side.
She didn’t watch him remove the condom, but she could figure out what he was doing just by the movements. And when he was done doing whatever he did with it, his arm snaked around her shoulders and he pulled her more tightly into his side.
What was this? “Deke.”
“Hmm?” He yawned and wound a strand of her hair around his finger, then released it.
Her mouth opened as he did it again. “Deke...”
He turned to his side and propped his head in hand. “Yeah, babe?”
“I...” She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m tired. It... It was a long day.” When he curled another lock of her hair around his finger, she opened her eyes again. “I’m going to bed.”
He stared at her with an unreadable expression. After a few moments, he nodded and released her hair. “’Kay.”
He didn’t move. He seemed to be waiting for her. An invitation for him to join her?
When she didn’t say anything for a few heartbeats, he nodded again. She rolled up to a seat, then to her feet, grabbing only her bra and panties which were close by.
Without another look at the man who remained lounging on the floor, she headed to her room. Once the door was closed, she leaned back against it and pressed a hand to her face and just breathed until her closed throat began to loosen once more.
She threw her bra and panties, not caring where they landed and scrubbed both palms down her face. Forcing the air in and out of her lungs at a steady pace, she tried not to think about what occurred out in her great room.
Not the sex, but the subtle shift to something beyond that. The connection she was trying to avoid.
If she listened hard enough, she could hear him and Justice trodding up the steps to the spare bedroom.
She dropped her hands and stared at her empty bed.
At least he had Justice to keep him company.
She should’ve invited him in.
But if she had, that would mean she had lied to herself about not wanting more.
And she wasn’t ready to admit it.
Chapter Twelve
Deacon wasn’t going to deny something had changed last night.
Nothing drastic, but something all the same.
And that something scared off Reese.
She couldn’t hide it in her face. Or the way her body tensed against his when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and played with her hair.
In truth, he was as surprised as she was he’d done it.
He hadn’t meant to, it just happened. Like it was natural.
That never happened before with any woman. He wasn’t the touchy-feely or clingy type. He usually got what he wanted, gave the woman what she needed and then split.
But Reese’s strength and stubbornness drew him. He’d grown up around two women who had been the same. Jemma, Judge’s sister, and his mother, Lottie.
He didn’t realize how strong his mother was until his father had gotten really sick. She struggled to keep working and to take care of him at the same time. Jemma, still really young, helped out as best as she could. By the time Walter was bed-ridden, Judge had already been out on his own for a while. He had offered to move back in, but Deacon’s mother wasn’t having any of it. She wanted Judge to live his own life and not be saddled taking care of his uncle.