Chapter Twelve #2
“I’m sorry. I just said that so you wouldn’t have high expectations. Not that I don’t know what I’m doing … it’s just that when or if we do that, it’s going to progress quickly for me—like a fifteen-year-old boy with a supermodel.”
Cage failed to hide his smirk.
“And just to clarify … you’re the supermodel and I’m the fifteen-year-old boy in that scenario.”
“I-I don’t know what to say.” His eyes flitted between mine and my hand holding his to my leg.
Trzy had nothing on me. My slutty touch-me-pet-me-love-me skills surpassed hers.
Desperate. I had to look pathetically desperate.
Surrendering to the reality that my big mouth robbed my vagina of some much-needed attention, I released his hand and flopped onto my side, covering my head with a pillow.
“I can’t think around you. Gah! Someone just shoot me, please.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
I shot up. “No!”
Cage untangled my hair plastered to my face. “No?”
“I’d rather be a blubbering idiot with you here than a well-spoken genius with you gone.”
“That’s sexy.” He threaded his hands through my hair, grasping my head as if preparing to take something that was his.
Independent woman, I belonged to no man, blah, blah, blah …
I wanted to be his. The desire to find the one guy that made me want to wave my white flag lived in the non-feminist part of my brain. Cage was white-flag worthy.
I grinned. “It’s really not, but it’s me and I want you to like me.”
He pulled me a breath away from his lips. “I’m here, Lake. I think we’re good in the ‘liking’ you department.” Then he kissed me.
“My teeth,” I mumbled against his lips. “I … need … brush … them …”
“Shut up,” he mumbled back.
Without breaking our kiss, I braced my hands on his biceps while he held my head. Shifting to my knees, my hands slid down and gathered fistfuls of his shirt, tugging it up his torso. I would not speak again. Life was meant to be lived. Ben died, but I lived … I lived.
Cage broke our kiss and smiled so big my heart nearly exploded into a red sea of sparkling glitter. He reached back and grabbed his shirt, removing it in one swift motion. I had to remind myself to breathe. Mr. NFL-followed-me-to-China guy had a ridiculously fit body.
He must have noticed my slack jaw and chest teetering on the edge of hyperventilating. “We don’t have to do this.”
My eyes flicked to his. “Shut up.” I grinned and lunged at him. He fell back onto the bed with me on top of him.
“Oof …” His mock pain didn’t faze me as I kissed his chest and up his neck. Best breakfast ever.
“Please, please, please, tell me you have a condom,” I murmured over his jaw, working my way to his lips as he grabbed the back of my legs to straddle me over his cock.
“If I say yes, will it mean I’m too presumptuous?”
I stopped, hovering over his face, our noses nearly touching, my hair falling around us like a curtain. “No. I think if you say yes, then it means you’re going to score this morning, Monaghan.”
His gaze washed over my face. If only I could have read his expression, but I couldn’t. I just knew how it made me feel—somewhere between tipsy and complete nostalgia.
On a sudden jerk, he sat up with me straddling his lap, his hands cupping my waist. “I need you to hear this.” A wrinkle of concern lined his forehead.
“O … K …” My eyes narrowed a bit.
“I can’t define this—us—but you need to know that this means something. Okay?”
I nodded slowly, keeping my gaze locked to his as I raised my arms above my head. He took forever to remove my shirt, inching it up my body so slowly I thought I might orgasm from how damn sexy he made something as simple as taking off my shirt feel. His confidence was rivaled only by his sexiness.
As my shirt fell to the floor and my hair cascaded down my back and chest, I sucked in a shaky breath. Cage didn’t move, except for his eyes. They swallowed up every inch of my naked skin.
“Focus, Monaghan … don’t fumble.”
The heat in his eyes seared mine, but he still gave up a cocky smile that I’d never seen before. Damn, I was more than ready to eat him alive. Abstinence had made me very hungry.
“I’ve got this.”
Aaaannd he claimed my orgasm. Three simple words, said with complete confidence, soaked my panties.
His eyes returned to my bared breasts, no touching, no licking, just … staring. Complete torture. I squirmed a bit on his lap. The grip he had on my hips tightened. Apparently rubbing myself against his cock wasn’t allowed. Just … staring.
Gah! Killing me!
Cage wet his lips. “Tell me, Lake … what part of my body should give you your first orgasm this morning?”
Gulp.
How embarrassing was it that he was well on his way to giving me one with nothing more than his words? Very. That’s how embarrassing it was.
He waited.
Oh God … he really expected me to answer that question.
Just as I opened my mouth to declare my request, a loud rap at the door shattered our moment like a sledge hammer.
“Worst. Timing. Ever!” I yelled loud enough for Thaddeus and the rest of the fifteenth floor to hear.
Hopping off Cage’s lap, I retrieved my shirt, slipped it over my head, and threw on my leg before stomping to the door like an errant child being sent to their room.
“Good morning to you too, love.” Thad grabbed a white cup with a black lid from a beverage tray.
“Tea. Now you have to forgive me for whatever I’ve done, which of course I have no idea what that is.
” He stepped inside. “There’s our sports star.
” He held up another cup. “Please tell me you’re a coffee man. ”
I turned and to my disappointment Cage had his shirt back on.
“Yes. Thank you.” He took the cup from Thad.
“Why are you not ready to go, love?”
Because I was just about ready to have some really overdue sex with the man of my dreams.
“Twenty minutes. I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
“And your friend? Is he joining us today?”
It was a reasonable question given my unreasonable reaction to Thad making the offer to Cage the previous night.
Some days my job infused me with confidence, some days I freaked out in the pool.
It was impossible to predict which Lake Cage would witness that day.
The night before I didn’t know how I felt about Cage seeing me stumble.
However, that morning …? I just wanted him to see me.
Both men looked at me, but I only looked at Cage.
“Yes. I’d love for him to join us today.”
We shared knowing smiles.
“Great then … I’ll meet you two downstairs in twenty.”
“Thanks again for the coffee,” Cage called as Thad walked out.
Thad held up a hand. “Don’t mention it.”
Cage sipped his coffee, his other hand casually shoved into his jeans pocket as if we hadn’t been half naked five minutes earlier.
For a lack of the right words to say, I sighed. Cage grinned. I eased the lid off my tea that was too hot to drink and set it down on the nightstand.
“I need to shower.”
He nodded.
“Sorry about Thad’s timing.”
Cage shrugged, taking another sip of his coffee. “You’re here for your job.”
“I should quit.”
He smirked. “You really should.”