Tuck still sounded angry, but I approached him anyway. The towels had fallen off at some point, and I was still in my underwear. The warmth of the fire spread around the room, and the pops of the wood were the only sound except the crackle of the tension between us and my harsh breaths.
When we were almost nose to nose, his voice was sweet as sugar and soft as cotton.
“Get on your knees,” he said.
So that’s what I did.
13
Tucker
8-Down: Unhinged, unwell, positively shook (10 letters)
Look, in my defense, I was really, really tired.
I’d spent the better part of the previous afternoon preventing my ex-boyfriend—who, for all his degrees and utter competence in the medical field, had the self-control of a mischievous toddler when it came to my love life or my belongings—from destroying all my crosswords and texting a “couple selfie” of us to my best friend.
And then I’d spent the entire evening after Carter went home trying not to remember all the very insightful things he’d said… like that I was sabotaging my friendship with Dunn by thinking I knew what Dunn wanted better than he did himself. I’d just about convinced myself that Carter had a point.
Except then my best best friend had gone and stripped nearly naked and jumped off the dock, not sparing a single thought for how dangerous it was until that first shock of icy water hit him, and proving once again that leaping before he looked was one of Dunn’s most charming and exasperating qualities.
Now he wanted me to believe that he’d come to a thoughtful, rational decision about what he wanted from our relationship? No way.
So I did what any super-exhausted, completely frustrated man might do.
I told him to get on his knees.
I was ready for him to balk, but he didn’t. Not even a little. In fact, he looked downright eager as he sank down at my feet and looked up at me expectantly.
Well, damn.
I inhaled sharply. My fingers ached to sift through his hair and trace the scruff on his jaw, but I reminded myself that Dunn had gotten on his knees for me because he trusted me as his friend. One of us had to put a stop to this, and if Dunn insisted on leaping into things…
Then I was going to have to be the cold water.
“Come on, then,” I goaded softly. A log hissed and popped in the fireplace. “You want me? You wanna be the only one who has me? Then take me. Open my pants. Suck me off.” I curled my hands into fists against the images that leapt to my brain of Dunn doing just that, and my cock went half-hard. Fuck.
“Oh, damn.” Dunn swallowed hard, and his eyes flared wide. “Tucker, I…I—”
I closed my eyes. “Yeah, no, I figured. It’s okay,” I soothed in a strangled voice. “You don’t have to—”
Dunn leaned forward and nuzzled his nose against my groin. His palms coasted up my thighs, then around to my hips, holding me in place. He mouthed my dick through my jeans, and the two of us groaned at the same time.
“I want to,” Dunn whispered. “It’s crazy how bad I want it.”
Before I could make myself form words, Dunn’s big hands were at my waistband, opening my fly and pushing my jeans down to my knees.
“Dunn—”
“Hush. This is another one of your tests, Tucker Wright, and I’m going to pass it.”
“Wait! I—”
I had no idea what I’d been planning to say. The second Dunn Johnson—my Dunn Johnson—pushed down my underwear and wrapped his calloused fingers around the base of my cock, I couldn’t have told you my name.
Then he tightened his grip and stroked me experimentally, watching my face the whole time.
Dunn Johnson was touching my dick.
Dunn Johnson was going to suck my dick.
I couldn’t believe this was happening, even after all that had happened two nights before. It simply did not compute or map to any previous experience I’d ever had. That tip-tilted smile and those warm eyes staring up at me were like a fantasy come to life.
He leaned in and set his tongue near the base, then moved his mouth carefully up the side and around to the head like he was savoring the taste of me, and I changed my mind. Even in my fantasies, it hadn’t been this good.
“You might wanna take that vest off, Dr. Wright,” Dunn teased. His hot breath on my skin made my cock jump. “It’s about to get warm in here.”
Oh, shit.
I stripped my vest off and practically threw it the short distance to the foot of the bed, then tried to do the same with my shirt.
“Whoa, hey!” Dunn frowned as I pulled the button-down over my head. “Careful! I love that shirt. You look fucking hot in it.”
“I do?” I stared down at the plaid flannel that had somehow gotten stuck to my wrists like I was a little kid.