29. Working In Her Favor
WORKING IN HER FAVOR
“You’re joking,” Luca said the next night when he’d shut the door. She’d left the garage door open for him to pull in and come in that way.
“What?” she asked, doing a little spin, wiggling her ass, and then coming back around. “You don’t like them?”
A smile lit up his face. He looked tired. She knew that feeling well four days into their sixteen-hour shifts. Then add the fact he spent most of it in the ER. Though here he was just ten minutes after nine, telling her he ended his night up in the ward so he could get out on time.
“I love them. Not quite like the picture you sent me months ago.”
“Oh, the bunny costume pictures? Yeah, I know. Do you know how hard it was to find bunny pajamas last minute?”
Friday night, she’d searched online for any place in Boston that might carry them. How she found a pair, she’d had no clue, but she bought them from the picture and got them before boarding the ferry earlier today.
“I don’t know, but I can say I appreciate them,” he said. “Do you mind if I take a shower first?”
“I’ll be waiting in bed for you,” she said.
The first time he’d stayed here, he was a little uncomfortable with it being her parents’ house, but she’d told him to not think of it that way. Consider it a rental.
It was not like her parents were coming over this weekend. They always told her ahead of time when they’d be here since they knew she might be sleeping during the day to catch up and didn’t want to scare her coming in.
She walked in front of him after flicking off the lights in the kitchen and locking the door.
The rest of the house was dark. It wasn’t like they were going to watch TV and hang out. To bed it was.
With her ass cheeks hanging out of the little blue cotton shorts. Maybe they were a size too small. Not on purpose, just what they had.
It was working in her favor though.
The pale blue top had thin straps with the face of a baby bunny on the front almost smiling.
Teasing. Tempting that it was cute, when really, she was going for anything other than cute.
She heard the bathroom door close and the shower kick on, the low rush of water carrying through the quiet house.
Might as well crawl into bed and settle in to wait. The sheets were cool against her legs, her heart thudding harder than it had any right to.
She stretched, deliberately letting the shorts ride up just a fraction more while she squirmed around. If he didn’t jump her the minute he came out, she’d failed spectacularly.
The shower shut off. A few minutes later, his bare feet padded into her room.
There he was, his boxer briefs on a body that no one would guess was hiding under his scrubs.
Toned, muscular and all hers for the taking.
“Well,” he said, stopping short. “Hell.”
She glanced at him from beneath her lashes. “Is that good or bad?”
“Good, very good,” he said, his voice low and slightly amused. “You know I’m exhausted, right?”
So he wanted to play that game.
The one where she got to seduce him.
Sign her up!
“And yet,” she replied sweetly, stretching more, letting the top rise on her belly, tighten across her breasts. “You walked in here anyway, tempting me with water dripping off your chest and a boner in your shorts.”
He looked down, then ran his finger over the droplet. “Guess I missed that.”
He flicked it up and she was ready to pounce.
She thought she’d seduce him, but he was giving it right back.
“Oh, you did. Come closer so I can inspect some more.”
He laughed. “You planned this.”
“Planned?” She feigned innocence. “I scrambled. There’s a difference.”
He sat on the edge of the bed, his hand brushing her calf, his fingers trailing, unhurried. The touch alone sent a shiver up her spine. “I appreciate the scrambling. You do know, you’re trouble with a capital T, right?”
“You like trouble,” she said, sitting up, her hand moving up his inner thigh, then brushing over the large bump in his drawers.
“I’m learning I do,” he answered, leaning down to press a kiss to her knee—soft, lingering, very much not cute like her pajamas were supposed to be.
She exhaled slowly, her hand sliding to his wrist. “Come here. You look like you need to stop thinking. It’s time to turn it off.”
He met her eyes, something both tender and heated flickering there at once. “That’s the best prescription I’ve heard all day.”
She inched up the bed to make room for him, but he didn’t move. Not yet.
Just held her stare, making her wonder what could be going through his brain.
“Switch with me,” she said. “Lie on your back. You’re tired and I’ve got the energy.”
He smirked while he climbed onto the bed, his back to the pillows that she’d plumped up before she shifted.
“I’m not going to say no,” he said.
“How about if I tell you I’m on birth control?” she asked, wiggling around some. “How favorable do you feel about that?”
“Pretty favorable,” he said, the smile filling his face. “You know my history.”
“And I’ve been pretty open about mine.”
It was another serious conversation they’d had. She had nothing to be embarrassed about. For all her dating, she rarely had sex.
Which didn’t explain why she was so fast to with Luca.
Nope, no explanations needed.
He was just different from everyone else, in the best way possible.
She yanked his underwear off his hips fast, his cock springing free.
His fingers reached for the bottom of her little top, lifted it up and over her head, her tits coming right out into his face while she climbed onto his lap.
She leaned forward, her hands on the headboard, bringing her hardened nipple right to his mouth. Encouraging him to give her a taste. A little suck. A nibble.
Hell, he could take a bite for all she cared.
But she needed him to do something.
His tongue came out, he gave her a little dab, then another. Teasing her like she wanted to do to him.
Her hand went under her breast, plumped it up, bringing it closer to his mouth, letting him know what she really wanted.
Yeah, he got it when he latched on and sucked. Sucked so hard that she felt it almost tug in her core.
Her lady lips twitched some, itching for some more action.
Soon, little bitty parts, soon.
Her fingers were cramping around the headboard, so she switched hands, switching breasts at the same time.
When she found herself grinding on his stomach, she knew that she wasn’t going to last much longer.
“Lift,” he said.
His mouth returned to her breast, but she did as he’d said, his fingers finding her little shorts and helping them down.
They weren’t coming off without her moving off his chest though, so she tilted to the side, kicked one leg out and then switched and did the other.
“Not a real smooth move there,” she said, laughing.
“Don’t give a fuck,” he mumbled around her nipple, then moved his mouth to the other.
She lifted again, lined him up, and sank down hard.
Her head tipped back at the sudden fullness, a sharp breath tearing from her chest. She rose, then dropped again—once, twice—finding a pace that made her thighs burn and her pulse race.
This was supposed to be about him. About easing the tension from his body, giving him a taste of what waited for him when he finally let go.
Instead, it was becoming about her.
About what she needed.
What she wanted.
And he clearly wasn’t complaining. Not with the way his hands locked on her hips, guiding her, lifting her just enough before pulling her back down with a force that stole her breath.
Her body was gaining speed, her thigh muscles almost cramping, but she wasn’t stopping. She wasn’t letting up. No fucking way.
His fingers moved from her hips back to her breasts, pinching her nipples, giving her a touch of pain to help get her there. And it did.
Everything in her collided at once. As if the brakes were thrown on a rollercoaster and her body jolted forward and back.
She was coming... hard! She was screeching, or making noises not easily identifiable.
Through it all, Luca was still ramming up into her, then he stopped. As if his brakes had just engaged.
And she felt him pulsing, the soft breath escaping his lungs like he could finally relax.
Could finally let it all out.
Her body collapsed against his chest, her lungs grasping for any oxygen it could find.
“God, could you imagine if I actually put the bunny ears on with this outfit?”
He laughed. Like he needed it more than he needed to breathe.
“You’d be doing CPR on me if that was the case.”
“I know how,” she said. “We could practice it.”
His hand traced down her back, almost in a possessive move, then slid up again. “If you greet me like that after a long day,” he murmured, “it could become a problem.”
She smiled, soft but unapologetic. “That was the point.” After a beat, she added lightly, “In case you couldn’t tell, I missed you.”
She framed it like a joke, cushioning the words so they didn’t sound like the truth pressing behind them. Not a confession. Not that much.
But the truth was there anyway.
He mattered. In her life. In her heart.
She hadn’t let herself fall like this in years. She had built walls and convinced herself she was smarter for it. Safer.
And now here she was, slipping anyway for a man who might be even more guarded than she was.
The realization curled low in her chest, equal parts thrilling and terrifying.
Yeah. Scary as hell.
He must have felt the shift, because his thumb stilled at her waist. “Hey,” he said quietly. “You just went somewhere.”
She hesitated, then shrugged like it was nothing. Like her chest wasn’t tight. Like her throat wasn’t closing. “I do that.”
“I know.” He studied her face as she leaned back, not teasing now. “But this feels different.”
She swallowed. Humor was usually her armor, but it felt flimsy here. It shouldn’t be what the two of them used as a crutch.
They were better than that and had proven it a few times.
“I’m not good at jumping without checking the depth first.”
A corner of his mouth lifted. “That makes two of us.”
She looked at him then, really looked. The tired lines at the edges of his eyes. The way he held himself like someone who’d already lost something precious and didn’t plan to lose again.
Maybe that was why she was struggling so much.
“I like what we’re doing,” she said carefully. “A lot. More than I expected to.”
“You make it sound scary,” he said gently. “Rather than something we both might be feeling the same of.”
“It is,” she admitted. “Because I’m starting to feel things I promised myself I wouldn’t rush into. That neither of us needs that.”
He didn’t interrupt. Didn’t fill the silence. Just waited.
But she waited longer.
She needed him to at least say something.
“I’m not so sure it’s about what we need as much as what just works for us. You can’t stop or control as much as you want. I learned that.”
She laid her head against his chest, then scooted down after lifting.
“I think you’re right. I love the fun we have together.
The teasing and the bantering. But times like this, I like this too.
Where I can open up and be real and you don’t wonder if I’m joking or not.
If I’m hiding something or being someone else. ”
His breath hitched, just slightly. “Gabriela.”
“I’m not saying any other serious words,” she said quickly, almost a plea.
“Not yet. Maybe not for a while. But I need you to know I’m not playing.
I’m not passing time. I want the fun we’ve got, but know that it’s not just that.
It’s not only that. It’s needed in my life, but the rest of what we’ve got—that’s needed also. ”
He lifted her chin so that she had to meet his eyes.
“You don’t have to say them,” he said, his voice low and his stare steady.
“I hear them anyway. And you’re not alone.
This thing tonight. What you did for me.
I know it was for me, but I’m thinking it was for you equally.
That’s the thing about a true partnership. ”
Her eyes burned. He got it without saying much more. “That’s what scares me.”
“It scares me too,” he admitted. “But I’d rather be scared with you than safe without this. I was in that spot for way too long. I like being out of it.”
“I love being out of it,” she whispered and kissed him softly, then climbed off to walk to the bathroom, giving both of them a moment.
When she returned a few minutes later, he was sound asleep, the light still on, but his breathing nice and calm.
She flipped the switch, climbed in next to him, staying on her side like normal, but knowing that she could roll over and he’d hold her tight, even in his sleep.