Be With Me(79)

She frowned. “That’s just it, Sawyer. I get the impression you don’t want sex . . . with me.” The look of absolute what the f**k on his face cheered her considerably. He looked so stunned by her statement that he went slack against her, and she nearly slid down his thighs. She scrambled upward, and he caught her behind again, hoisting her back up.

“Not want sex with you?” he said in a strangled voice. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, woman, where did you get that dumbass idea?”

She gazed down at him, al attempts at teasing gone. “Why do you hold back with me, Sawyer?

Don’t you think I’d figure it out? You haven’t exactly been subtle. I know you. Maybe better than anyone.

The two times you’ve made love to me, you haven’t once actual y penetrated me. Wel , unless you count a blowjob.”

He stiffened at her bluntness. Unease crawled across his face, and this time he actual y did let her slide down his legs until she was back on the floor, standing in front of him again.

“You think . . . you think it’s because I don’t want you?” he asked hoarsely.

She shrugged. “Honestly? No, I don’t think that, though it’s easy to see why I would. What I real y think is that you’re holding back out of some misguided fear of hurting me.”

There was a flash of acknowledgment in his eyes that told her she was definitely on the right track.

Sawyer sighed and tried to turn away, but she nailed him in the chest with her finger.

“Oh, no you don’t. You’re not dodging this one, buddy.” She grabbed handfuls of his T-shirt and pulled tight. “Talk to me, Sawyer. Please?” Troubled blue eyes stared back at her. Regret.

Fear. Shining like beacons. Her stomach knotted.

“It’s not because I don’t want you, honey,” he said gruffly. “Hel , I’m a walking hard-on around you.”

“Then why?” she prompted.

He looked down. “I’m not like the others, Reggie.

Not smooth like Cam. He’s al cultured and sensitive.”

“You make him sound like a pu**y,” she said dryly.

Sawyer ignored her. “And Hutch is al lovey and tender. Shit, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were his first and only.”

“Second,” she corrected.

“I rest my case.”

“But Sawyer, what does that have to do with anything? So Hutch hasn’t slept around much. So Cam prefers the Learning Channel to sports. We’re not al joined at the hip. It’s okay to be different.”

“Because you deserve better. I’ve slept with a hel of a lot of women. I’m not proud of it, but I’m not torturing myself over it either.”

“You’re not?” she asked pointedly.

“Let me finish,” he said impatiently. “I like sex. I like sex without commitment. I’ve had sex with a lot of women who were on the same page as me. But you’re different, Reggie. With you . . . it matters.” He cupped his hands over her shoulders and stared earnestly into her eyes.

“You deserve to be made love to.” He shifted uncomfortably and relaxed his hold on her shoulders.

“I’m not good at that.”

“So what are you good at?” she asked calmly. “Are you saying you suck at sex?”

She had to work to suppress the grin when he bristled. There was only so far you could push the fragile male ego.

“I do not suck at sex,” he growled. “What I suck at is the gentle lovemaking stuff.”

“So what are you good at? The hot, sweaty, make-you-scream type sex?”

His eyes glittered. “Yes.”

“And if I want hot, sweaty, make-you-scream sex?”

“Hot,

sweaty, kinky, make-you-scream sex, Reggie. I like it hard and rough.”

“And if I want it that way?” she prompted again.

His eyes narrowed with a predatory gleam. “What if I told you that I fantasize about bending you over the couch and taking you from behind. Hard. Fast.

That I’m not satisfied with just taking your mouth or your pu**y. That I want al of you.”

Her breathing shal owed and came in rapid spurts as warmth seared through her body. Her ni**les beaded and tightened painful y, spearing the thin T-shirt she wore.

“And what if I told you that what I want is you? Not a watered down version, Sawyer. You. Al of you. I don’t want you to change. I love you. I don’t want a pale imitation of Cam or Hutch.”

His mouth crashed down on hers, his tongue plunging deep. His teeth nipped at her ful bottom lip, and he sucked it deeper into his mouth.

Wild. God. He felt so wild. Unleashed. Al that power simmering, just waiting to boil out.

He tore at her clothes, and she tore at his. Hot, breathless, they went after each other like starving animals. He yanked at her shirt, ripping it over her head. It went sailing across the kitchen.

They made short work of the clothes, and then they were pressed tight together.

He hoisted her up his body again until she straddled him as she had before. He tilted his head back as she claimed his mouth. Savage. It was al she could think as she swooped down like a bird of prey.

He brought out the animal in her. He made her wild, just as she imagined he was. How long she had waited to tap into that tightly held control.