Chapter 19 Lofton
LOFTON
The room was dark, so I left the door open on purpose as I prowled toward him. My heels clicked against the old wooden floor, but under his hungry gaze, it felt like a runway meant for the only man who mattered.
He didn’t come to me, but the tension in his body gave him away. Every line of him was coiled and barely contained.
“Devon,” I whispered, pulling his focus back to my face. “I was starting to think you were running from me today.”
A rough sound rumbled low in his chest. “I should be running from you now.”
Hooking my thumb over my shoulder, I tipped my head. “You want me to go?”
He scoffed. “Don’t act like you didn’t know exactly how much I wanted you before you ever opened the damn door.”
Relief washed over me. I wasn’t new to the charged looks, the unspoken pull, the way a body betrayed desire long before words ever did. Devon had been fighting it for days.
But there was always a risk when it came to putting yourself out there.
“Then why run?” I stepped closer. Arching my back, I shifted my shoulders until the white button-down I’d stolen from his closet slid down my arms and pooled at my feet.
His gaze dropped to my breasts, need flashing before he could hide it. He dragged his tongue across his lower lip as if he were already imagining the taste of my skin.
God, it was sexy to have a man like him unraveling right before my eyes.
“Because this isn’t right,” he said, lacking all conviction.
“I don’t know. Feels pretty right to me.” I lifted my hand, whisking it over the front of his sweats, grazing his erection.
He sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re vulnerable.”
“I’m horny, Devon. They aren’t the same.”
He shook his head, still trying to hold the line. “You’ve been through a lot.”
“This isn’t about that.” I closed the last inch between us. In my heels, I was at eye level with his lips. The warmth of his breath sent a chill down my spine, leaving me desperate for another taste of him.
My hands slid up his chest, over the firm muscles beneath his shirt, until they looped around his neck. “This is about you and me,” I murmured, my mouth brushing the corner of his. “And everything we’ve been denying.”
His hands stayed fisted at his sides, but his control was cracking.
His jaw ticked at the hinges. “I’d be taking advantage of you.”
That stopped me.
I swayed back just enough to really look at him. He wore the conflict and fading restraint of a man who would rather break himself than risk even the possibility of hurting me. And maybe it was silly, but that was the most romantic thing anyone had ever not said to me.
“Devon,” I said softly, the edge gone from my voice.
“I came to you. In a shirt I stole from your closet, half naked, begging for you to get me completely naked.” I brushed my nose against his.
“If anything, I’m the one taking advantage of you.
” I took his hands, prying his fingers open and lacing them with mine.
“You did something extraordinary for me today. But this isn’t payback.
I want you, and not because I’m vulnerable.
I want you because you are an insanely sexy man who has never missed an opportunity to take care of me.
Maybe you just let me take care of you tonight? ”
His breathing stalled.
For a second, I thought he was going to argue.
But when the words didn’t come, I took matters into my own hands. While keeping my eyes locked on his, I started to slowly sink down to my knees, taking great pleasure in the uptick in his breathing. I hooked my finger in the waistband of his sweats.
His hands were suddenly on me, hauling me back up. My breath caught as my chest collided with his.
“I haven’t even kissed you yet,” he muttered roughly.
I almost corrected him, reminding him of our moment in the loft. No matter how chaste. It was still very much a kiss. But as his mouth came down over mine, greedy and demanding, I realized he’d been right.
Devon had not kissed me yet.
And as his tongue slid into my mouth with a skilled precision that drew a moan from my throat, I wasn’t sure any man before him had ever truly kissed me either.
It wasn’t hesitant or careful.
It was pure possession, masquerading as passion.
His lips moved over mine, stealing the air from my lungs. Dizzy, I curled my fingers into the front of his shirt for balance. Heat flooded my nervous system, my entire body igniting into a wildfire.
Almost as quickly, a wave of chills extinguished it. His hand glided up my neck and into my hair, angling my head as he deepened the kiss with devastating efficiency.
It wasn’t enough.
Not even close.
He gradually slowed, the long strokes of his tongue giving way to softer, lingering slides before easing into gentle pecks.
“Babe,” he murmured, his voice rough as I sagged against him. “I have never, in my entire life, wanted a woman more. But if, and when, this shit goes sideways, I need you to promise me you’ll be real with yourself about why you want me tonight.”
Still dazed, I nodded, not entirely sure what I was agreeing to. I knew exactly why I wanted Devon, but I would have sold my soul to the devil if it meant he’d stop talking and start touching me again.
“I promise.”
A slow grin spread across his face—confident and utterly devastating. “Then take it away, babe. You want me, you got me. Any way you want.”
A spark shot straight to my core. I stole another kiss. It wasn’t as consuming as his, but I had other destinations in mind.
My hands moved with purpose, tugging at his sweats until his length sprung free. Heat pooled in my stomach, my breath catching as I took in his hard, thick cock.
“Good God,” I whispered.
He chuffed a quiet laugh before nipping my bottom lip. “Get me naked, babe. It only gets better.”
Bold. Cocky.
So fucking hot.
Two could play that game.
My sheer panties were only underwear by definition. They hid absolutely nothing, and I may have chosen them specifically for that reason. Though sight and touch were two very different senses.
I caught his wrist and guided his hand between my thighs. “You’ve got some work to do yourself, sir.”
His inhale was sharp, head tipping back slightly, pure masculine ecstasy playing in his eyes.
And just like that, I regained the upper hand.
He didn’t let me keep it long.
The second I pushed his pants the rest of the way down and peeled his shirt over his head, my brain short-circuited.
Devon Grant was unfairly gorgeous.
All hard lines and sharp edges. The fluorescent lighting in the barn had done him no justice when I’d caught him showering at the wash rack. But up close, with his fingers hooking into the delicate strings at my hips, Devon Grant was the most beautiful man in existence.
He dropped to a knee, sliding my panties down my legs. I wanted to keep the shoes on. A naked woman in only a pair of heels was every man’s wet dream, right?
I should have known Devon would be different.
“Step out,” he ordered, holding the back of my shoe.
Using his shoulder for balance, I obeyed, following suit on the other foot.
Peering up at me, he flashed me a grin. “You ever decide to ambush me again, you wear those overalls, yeah?”
I would absolutely never be caught dead in those overalls in any situation where I wanted a man to be hypnotized by desire. However, the sentiment still landed deep in my chest.
Completely bare, I bent, framed his face, and touched my lips to his. “Stand up. I have colors I want to show you.”
His eyes flashed dark, and he did not delay in rising to his full height.
Sinking down in front of him, I allowed my fingers to trace the veins of his length before dipping low and lapping up the bead of precum at the tip.
He brushed the hair away from my face, his gaze never leaving mine.
But he didn’t say a word.
Not a groan. Not a curse.
Just silence.
Which was seriously disappointing—as well as a blatant challenge.
Clearly, I wasn’t the only one excelling at this game of seduction.
Opening my mouth wider, I eased forward, sucking him in until the tip hit the back of my throat.
Quickly sliding him out, I repeated the process, varying my speed from slow and sensual to fast and frenzied.
And when he still hadn’t made the first sound, I added my hands to work what I couldn’t take in my mouth, determined to break through that ironclad control.
My tongue swirled his head with every stroke, before swallowing him down again.
Over and over, in a relentless rhythm, I worked him toward the edge.
Until finally, I won.
A guttural groan tore from him. “Fuck, Lofton.” His hand came down on the back of my head, stalling my pace. “Slow down, baby.”
It was safe to say I did not.
His muscular thighs tensed, hips rolling to match my rhythm. He was getting close. I could feel him swelling. And then, all at once, he closed his hand in my hair, pulling me away, until his cock slipped free of my lips.
“Jesus, woman.” He wiped his thumb along the corner of my mouth, his chest rising and falling with labored breaths. “Rule number one: you do not get to make me come unless I’m inside that beautiful pussy of yours.”
As much as I wanted to laugh at the throwback to his stupid rules, there was no room for us in the past. But maybe there could be in the future.
Heat flooded my face at the thought.
He read it wrong—and also completely right.
His mouth hitched on one side. “You like the sound of that, huh? Me inside that greedy pussy?”
And because I did, a whole hell of a lot, I stood up, plastering myself to his front, while crashing my mouth over his.
Devon swallowed my moan as he walked us toward the bed, never breaking the kiss until we fell onto the mattress together. He caught himself with his hand beside my head. My heart pounded against my ribs as he just took the moment to stare at me.
I wasn’t nervous about his appraisal or the fear of him seeing something he wouldn’t like.