Chapter 7 #2
Her warmth called to me, the subtle scent of her shampoo making it difficult to breathe. I wanted nothing more than to bury myself in her, provoked beyond reason by the sexy imagery. Her soft curves and softer mouth, so ripe and ready, were impossible to ignore, but she seemed unaffected.
I should have escaped when I had a chance. As it was, I’d suffer all night long, aware that Sophie was only a door away and utterly out of reach.
The on-screen montage of lovemaking drew to a close, and I breathed a sigh of relief, shifting to ease the tightness in my groin.
Sophie stretched next to me, her arm barely grazing mine in a casual touch that made me ache. Apparently, she was unbothered by watching a sexy scene together. Whereas I was on fire.
"I can't believe you're watching this show," I said, not realizing how it sounded until Sophie frowned.
"You judging me right now, Davis?"
"Only because you call sex the hippity-dippity."
She shook her head. "Hazard of my day job. Even when I want to swear, I'm stuck. Habit has me using the alternative swears I've tried to adopt to avoid getting angry calls from parents."
"You say that like it's happened before," I said, curiosity taking some of the edge off my sexual frustration.
Sophie hid her face in her hands. "Oh, it has," she groaned.
I reached my good hand out, circling her wrist easily and urging her to look at me. "It can't have been that bad," I said softly.
Sophie snorted. "Oh no? Picture it: a much younger, saltier Sophie in her first year of teaching. I had limited classroom management skills and the mouth of a sailor. It was not a good combination."
"What did you say?" I asked, fascinated by the picture she painted. One of the things I enjoyed about Sophie was her enthusiasm. I'd die before admitting it, but I loved her energy, the way she threw herself into things with abandon.
She tried to dip her chin, but I held her steady, staring into her chocolate eyes.
"You don't need to hide from me."
"A giant freaking spider dropped from the ceiling onto my arm while I was going over a math assignment. An F-bomb ensued."
"And a kid repeated it at home?"
She wrinkled her nose. "Okay, maybe it was multiple F-bombs." I couldn't help my grin. She shrugged. "I smashed that sucker in record time, but it was traumatic, okay?"
"For the spider."
"Take it back, Davis."
I held up my hands. "Again, former vet tech here. I love all creatures, big and small." I winked at her. "Sometimes the small ones are darned cute."
She flushed, making me wish I could call back the vague compliment. I hadn't meant to make her uncomfortable.
"Anyway, so a spider was just minding his business, probably snacking on all the annoying bugs in your classroom, and you smacked it into oblivion while uttering a few choice phrases? Surely the parents understood."
"Davis, you sweet summer child,” she crooned. “You know Pastor O’Reilly. Imagine if I cussed in front of Izzy back in the day and her dad found out."
I winced. Izzy's dad was a sanctimonious tool.
"Exactly," Sophie said, grimacing.
"I had not one phone call, but three phone calls from concerned parents. Luckily, my principal had my back. Mrs. Murtaugh hated spiders."
I opened my mouth, fully intending to defend the honor of spiders everywhere, but paused at Sophie's forbidding expression.
She pressed a finger into my chest. "And that's why my colorful vocabulary includes 'fork,’ 'shirtballs,’ and 'hippity-dippity.’"
It was a sign of how messed up I'd become that I took her claim as a challenge. Shaking my head, I tried to suppress the urge to see what it would take to get her to talk filthy to me. A kiss? Touching her in just the right spot? Railing her behind the couch like the couple on our show?
Fuck me.
Sophie had spent the last five minutes expressing her need for innocence, and all I wanted to do was ruin it. Ruin her. In the best possible way. Forget my misgivings. Forget my instincts for self-preservation.
Surely, I could warm myself at her hearth without getting burned?
Sophie flattened the finger poking me in the chest until her palm covered my heart. With a small smile, her other hand joined the party, desultorily petting my chest.
"You can pry my foul language from my dead fucking corpse."
Sophie smiled at my rough proclamation, her eyes crinkling at the corners.
"Davis, honey, you're all bark and no bite," she drawled, watching me.
"All cuddles, no claws," I corrected, surprising a laugh from her. "I'm clearly a cat person."
Amusement glittered in her eyes, and she leaned in, brushing her lips over mine in a whisper-soft caress.
Gone before I could encourage her to linger, she leaned back, grinning. "I should have guessed. You're independent as fork, can't be bothered with what others think about you, and skittish when it comes to affection."
Not sure how I felt about her assessment, I let my palm trail along her jaw. "You sure about that, Bee? I think you owe it to science to test your last observation. That little peck barely counts as a valid dataset."
She pursed her lips. "One more kiss," she cautioned, ruining it with a grin. "For science."
Slowly, I leaned in, giving her plenty of time to pull away, pleased at the way her pupils dilated. Her spell on me was so strong that I didn't even question how I'd gotten here. By rights, I should be scurrying away and avoiding her at all costs.
Sophie Dunham threatened my control. Threatened the peace I’d made with my life. Threatened my heart, an insidious voice whispered.
Instead, I loomed closer, tilting my head to capture her mouth in a deep kiss. She'd said one. She didn't say a short one. And, really, how did you count kisses?
Our lips brushed, and I traced the seam of her mouth with my tongue, grunting my pleasure when she opened, exploring me as eagerly as I explored her.
I wanted to devour her, sip the sweetness from her lips until I was drunk on sugar.
She seemed just as voracious, nipping at my bottom lip when I retreated to take a breath.
Our tongues tangled, stroking, letting passion carry us beyond thought.
We kissed like we might never get another chance, obliterating any remaining mental capacity to quantify anything.
Lost in her, my lungs burned with the need for oxygen before I broke away.
Sophie's smile trembled around the edges as she worked to catch her breath, and my heart clenched at that sign of uncertainty from her. The shadow of fear in her eyes cast doubt on my original belief that she'd been with me all the way, that we'd both enjoyed the hell out of our kiss.
"Fuck, I'm sorry, Sophie," I apologized, hoping to restore her faith in me. The last thing I wanted was to make things awkward between us. Which I should have fucking considered before challenging her to a kiss.
"It's me who should be apologizing," she said.
Sophie squeezed my good hand in hers, confusing the hell out of me.
"Why?" I asked.
"I've been taking advantage of you," she claimed softly.
Confused, I shook my head. "Bee, I don't think that means what you think it does."
She chuckled, sitting back. Her flushed cheeks and mussed hair made me ache to kiss her again. "Davis, I never knew you were so funny."
"Me neither," I grumbled.
"Better be careful," she said, glancing up at me from beneath her lashes. "My apartment might not allow pets, but that doesn't mean I can't adopt a stray."
"Meow," I deadpanned.
Giggling, she pushed off the couch. It took all I had not to try to entice her back.
We needed space before I did something unforgiveable.
Like show her what taking advantage really looked like.
Not that I'd ever do anything Sophie didn't want, but something about the way her gaze lingered on my mouth made me think it wouldn't take more than an invitation to get her into my bed.
We'd spent the weekend together under unusual circumstances. She tolerated my grumpy ass now, but how much longer would that last? Sooner or later, I'd annoy her, or she'd bug me. We were too different. I wanted peace and the farm, and Sophie deserved someone who could be devoted to her.
We'd split up when it became clear I wouldn’t put her first. Couldn’t put her first, if I wanted to keep my commitments to my family and my employees. Then, all that would be left was the fallout. I rubbed my chest.
Been there, done that. Didn't need a repeat.
Sophie and Jo were too close for me to shit where I eat. Crude, but accurate. And something I needed to remember. Instead of tumbling her into my bed like I wanted, I needed to reestablish boundaries.
"Goodnight, Bee."
"'Night, Davis. Thanks for letting me crash."
I snorted, not sure she meant to be funny with her last comment and not wanting to hurt her feelings.
Sophie smacked her forehead with her hand. "I meant stay in Jo's room, obviously."
"Obviously."
"Anything for a friend of Jo's," I added. Anything for you, I rephrased silently as she slipped into Jo's room.