Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
“I was thinkingon the way home,” Cassie said as he followed her through her front door. She had the world’s smallest house, and he had to stoop to walk through the front door.
“That’s a dangerous thing to do,” Pres replied.
She turned and grinned at him. “We should lay down some ground rules. In case things get messed up.”
He blinked. He wasn’t expecting that. “What kind of ground rules?” And what kind of messed up? He’d been hard as he drove. The memory of her dance played over and over in his mind.
He’d never met anybody this flexible. This at one with their body. It was pretty much the hottest thing he’d ever seen.
“This thing,” she said, pulling her sweater off, revealing her leotard and tights beneath. “Whatever it is between us. I don’t want it to cause any problems for you or me.”
“How would it cause problems?” He couldn’t take his eyes off her ass as she leaned down to pull of her sneakers.
Cassie looked up, lifting a brow. “You’ve already gotten weird on me twice. And that was just from kissing and touching me.”
“You think I’m gonna get weird if we have sex?”
She bit down a smile. “I’d say it’s pretty much guaranteed. And that would be fine if you and I never saw each other again. But we play in the same band. I teach your daughter. We can’t walk through town without bumping into each other. So I need you to promise me it won’t get weird.”
“That I won’t get weird,” he corrected. There was a half smile on his lips because she wasn’t wrong. He knew he’d been an ass to her after they’d touched before. Mostly because he didn’t want to feel this way.
Pulled to her. Entranced by her. Every time he pictured her his dick got hard.
His shower had never seen so much damn activity.
She pulled her leotard down and his whole body went on high alert.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I need to take a shower. I’ve been working all day.” She rolled it down her thighs, followed by her tights.
She was naked. And he was staring at her, open mouthed.
Like he’d thought. Completely at one with her body.
Jesus.
“Have we finished with the ground rules?” he asked.
She turned and started walking up the stairs on her tiptoes, the movement making the cheeks of her ass jiggle. “Are you planning on being weird?”
“No.”
“And you won’t treat me any differently when we’re singing together?”
He frowned. “You want me to treat you like you’re just a friend?” He needed to clarify what she was asking. But his mind was hazy. And a little bit distracted by the sight of her climbing the stairs naked.
He kicked his own shoes off and followed her.
“I want you to treat me like you would anybody else.” She’d reached the top. “And maybe this will help. The UST is stupidly distracting, right?”
“The UST?” he murmured. She was pulling her hair into a bun.
“Sexual tension. Maybe we both need to get it out of our bodies.” She reached for the door, pressing the handle down then stepped inside.
The bathroom. Of course.
“Sometimes that can cause problems,” he murmured. “Sometimes the sexual tension is what makes the band work.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re right. You can leave now.”
“What?”
Cassie started to laugh. “I’m kidding. You just looked so serious again. If we’re doing this, can you at least crack a smile?”
“I can smile.”
“I know you can. But will you?”
He lifted the corner of his lips.
“Oh god, not like that.” She screwed up her nose. “I’ll tell you what. If you smile, I’ll get on my knees in the shower for you.”
He opened his mouth to answer, but she was already reaching in and turning on the spray. The shower was small, barely big enough to fit them both.
It’d be cozy though. Very. Damn. Cozy.
“Are you coming in?” she asked, stepping into the steaming spray.
“Yes I’m fucking coming in.”
“Then get undressed.”
His eyes caught hers. It was weird how much he liked her teasing. It made things easier. Made him not think so much.
Made him want to show her who was the damn boss around here.
He pulled his t-shirt off and it was his turn to smile because she was staring at his chest, her throat undulating as she swallowed.
Then he flicked the button of his jeans, pulling the zipper down, climbing out of them until they were a pile of blue on the floor. His socks were next, and then his shorts.
His dick slapped against his stomach. She ran the tip of her tongue over her bottom lip, her gaze dipping, her eyes widening.
“You could hurt somebody with that,” she told him.
“That’s the plan.” It wasn’t. But it got a smile out of her.
And he liked that too much.
Her eyes flashed. “Come here and prove it.”
He lifted a brow and walked toward the shower, stepping around the glass barrier to where she was standing, naked and wet.
He pulled her to him until their bodies touched. And fuck, she felt perfect. His dick twitched in approval as his lips lazily captured hers, their tongues sliding, their fingers caressing.
Learning each other’s bodies. Each other’s tells.
He kissed the skin beneath her ear and she gasped. Moved his lips lower to where her neck met her shoulder and she shivered.
This was fun. Why had he been fighting this? He was finding it hard to remember.
When he kissed her breasts she let out a long, deep groan, her head tipping back until it was against the tiles. He took his time sucking and scraping them, teasing them until they were hard and swollen, before he kissed his way down to her stomach.
Then dropped to his knees and pushed her thighs open.
“I thought I was going to get on my knees,” she said breathlessly, as he pressed his thumb against the soft skin between her thighs.
“Ladies first,” he leaned forward to kiss where his thumbs had been. Then moved his lips up.
Water was pouring down her, but she was wet already, he could tell from the slickness between her legs. He leaned forward, his tongue touching her right where she needed him.
She let out another loud sigh, her fingertips scraping against his scalp.
God, she tasted like heaven. He licked her again and again, his cock throbbing with every cry she made, until she was unsteady on her feet, and he had to hold her thighs tightly.
“I need you inside of me.”
And that’s when he remembered. “I don’t have anything.”
Shit. Fuck. That’s what happened when you’re out of practice. If his friends found out about this, they’d laugh their asses off.
Not that they’d find out. This wasn’t something he planned to share.
“I’m on birth control,” she told him. “And I’m clean.”
He looked up. Her eyes were on his. And fuck if she didn’t look so trusting it made his heart twinge.
“Me too.”
They should still use a condom. He knew that. But he had nothing, and he wanted her.
Too much.
“I’ll pull out,” he promised. Himself as much as her. He stood, cupping her face. “Are you sure about this?”
He needed her to say it. To be clear.
“Did me almost coming on your mouth not tell you how sure I am?” she asked him.
“Say yes,” he whispered, pressing the thick length of his cock against her.
Her lips curled up. “Yes. Fuck me, Presley.”
He slid his hands beneath her, lifting her until the angle meant he could grind against her most sensitive part. He thrust into her, their mouths clashing, her body sandwiched between him and the tiles, his body taking over, taking what it needed.
Giving her what she needed.
Another thrust and he was in to the fucking hilt. A wave of dizzy euphoria washed over him. So fucking tight, so fucking warm.
He was being rough, but she was begging him for more. So he gave it to her, still kissing her, still whispering her name, still telling her how beautiful she was.
As he defiled her beautiful body.
Her arms tightened around his neck at the same time her pussy tightened around his dick, her breath coming in pants against his lips.
“Presley…”
“I know,” he soothed. “I’ve got you.”
And then she was coming around him. Not just her pussy but her whole body. Convulsing and arching like she’d never come before. He stopped thrusting, pinning her against the tiles, letting her orgasm wash over her. Holding her tight because there was no way he was letting her go.
“Keep fucking me,” she whispered against his ear.
And so he did. Moving his hips, moving inside of her. Until he could feel the peak too, uncurling in his spine, making his balls tighten.
“Fuck…” He pulled out, coming hard, and his lips captured hers. His heart slammed against his ribcage, the pleasure wracking his body the same way it wracked hers.
And when he finally stopped surging, he gently set her down on the floor.
“That’s the first shower I’ve taken where I’ve ended up dirtier than I started,” he told her.
She lifted a brow, her face lighting up with the most beautiful smile. “Somehow I sincerely doubt that.”
Cassie’s eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the dim light in the bedroom. It took a moment for her to realize there was somebody else in her bed.
No, not somebody. Presley. Her breath caught as she looked at him, remembering last night.
They had sex twice more before she’d finally drifted off to sleep, her muscles aching in a delicious way. One time on the floor once they’d finally dried off – this time he’d insisted on getting her off with his mouth first – and then on the bed, which they’d laughed all the way through because he’d discovered she was ticklish on the sides of her body and had taken advantage.
So she’d returned the favor.
Sundays were Cassie’s only real day off. And she usually spent it by being lazy in bed for as long as possible before attacking her laundry pile and doing what she could to clean her house.
But this morning, she was apparently spending it staring at Presley Hartson.
He was laying on his front with his head facing her, one arm flung above his head, his eyelids flickering as he dreamed about whatever hot single dads dreamed about. But it was his tattoos that drew her eye. He had a big one of wings on his back, so intricately drawn that they almost looked like real feathers.
She reached out to touch it. No, it was definitely skin.
Warm, hard, masculine skin.
“I got that one for Delilah,” he muttered against the pillow.
Her lips twitched. “Did I wake you?”
“Nope. Still asleep.”
This time she grinned. “What time do you have to pick Delilah up?”
That made his eyes open. His little girl was definitely his achilles heel. “What time is it?” His voice was croaky. It reminded her of all those dirty words he whispered in her ear the second time they had sex.
Her cheeks flushed.
“Almost eight.”
He groaned into the pillow. “Why are you awake so early? Didn’t I wear you out?”
“Obviously not. But I’m younger than you so…”
Presley turned his head, his eyes open now. Narrow, though. “You’re not that much younger. What? Five years?”
“Something like that.” It was six, actually, but he didn’t need to know that right now. But the truth was he felt older. Not just because he was a dad but because he was actually a considerate love maker.
He’d made sure she came before he did. Three times that last time, when tickling and touching all mixed in together until she was riding a wave she couldn’t get off.
You definitely got off, honey.
She was pretty sure she wasn’t the most experienced lover he’d had. But hopefully what she lacked in skill she made up for in energy. Like a puppy.
No, scratch that. A kitten. Yeah. Like a delighted kitten, all over him.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked, his arms stretching.
“Just thinking about how soon I can throw you out of my bed.”
His brows knitted. “You want me to go?”
“I’m kidding,” she promised. “I was actually thinking that you have so much more experience than me.”
He blinked but said nothing.
“Did I say the wrong thing?” she asked him.
“No. I was just…” He shook his head. “You say things I don’t expect you to. And then I have to figure out how to respond.”
“Why would you have to figure out how to respond?” she asked him, confused.
“Because I’ve been known to piss you off. Hell, I’ve been known to piss a lot of people off.” He shrugged. “I find it’s best to think first and speak second.”
“That sounds exhausting,” she told him.
“Yeah, it can be.”
No wonder he was so brooding. His head must be a mess of thoughts. Sure, they were grown ups, they’d all had to learn to censor their thoughts somewhat. Her mom always said that what happened in your head didn’t need to come straight out of your mouth.
But still, this was different.
“Were you like that with Jade?” she asked him. It was weird saying his wife’s name. Not least because they were naked in bed together. But also because he’d never mentioned her. He’d certainly never told her his dead wife’s name.
She’d heard it though. From Marley and Alex. And probably his mom, too.
He opened his mouth and closed it again, and this time she knew what was happening. Whatever he was going to say was censored.
“I hate the way you won’t say what you think.”
“I think I should go home, shower, and pick my kid up.”
Okay, so she’d taken the wrong tack. Noted. He didn’t like talking about his dead wife, and why should he?
Especially with another woman.
“Sure,” she said smoothly.
He ran the tip of his tongue along his bottom lip to moisten it. “Are you still okay?” he asked, his voice thick. “About this?”
“I will be after we go tell everybody about us.”
“About us?” he repeated, looking confused.
“We had sex, so we’ll be a couple now, right? Isn’t Sunday the day you go to your parents’ house? What time should I get there?”
His mouth fell open. His eyes were so wide she could almost see his thoughts clouding inside them.
“I’m kidding,” she told him, rolling her own eyes. “Of course I’m alright. The sex was good, you’re funny when you remember to speak before you think. And now I’m also going to take a shower and start my day.”
“Okay…”
“And you’re still not going to make this weird, right?” she asked him.
“No?” It sounded like a question. He was clearly having a hard time with this.
She sat up, pulling the sheet up to her chest. “Say it with conviction.”
His lips twitched. “No.”
“No you won’t say it with conviction, or was that a lame attempt to actually say it like you meant it?”
“No,” he said again. “To both.”
She opened her mouth to tell him to try again, but he curled his palm around her neck and pulled her to him, his lips brushing hers in a way that was intended to shut her up.
And it worked.
His mouth was warm, demanding. He climbed over her, kissing her again, caging her in with his arms.
“How long do we have?” she murmured.
“Gotta be out of here by nine-thirty.” His lips trailed down her jaw, her neck, as he slowly pushed the sheet down to reveal her breasts.
“Plenty of time then.” She gasped as he captured her nipple between his lips.
“My thoughts exactly.” He kissed lower and lower until her eyes rolled into the back of her head.
The man knew how to make her feel good. And she planned on taking advantage of it for as long as she could.