Bedding the Wrong Brother(45)

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For the rest of the evening, “again” and “more” became Rhys's personal mantra. Melina engraved the words in her memory, cherishing them but also taking them as a challenge. Part of her never wanted him to stop saying those words, so she pushed herself to do things she'd never been comfortable with.

First, remembering a scene from Sex and the City, she straddled him. With her back arched and her hands raised above her head, she rode him so fast and so hard that her breasts bounced. Well, not quite. Samantha's breasts had bounced on the show. In real life, Melina's breasts just jiggled. Still, given Rhys's response, jiggling definitely worked for him.

Next, she resumed their alphabet game, breathing out a new word in time to his deep, languid strokes, and eventually cursing him when he refused to let her orgasm until she finished. He laughed and pressed her hips down, controlling her movements, and she almost panicked when she got to “X.” Somehow, she came up with “xenerotica,” the act of getting turned on by strangers. Then, when she got to “Z,” he reached down and touched her where they were joined. She came apart, screaming “zelophilia” so loud she barely heard his own groans of pleasure. He collapsed next to her, struggling for breath.

“Zelophilia?” he asked skeptically.

“Sexual arousal from jealousy,” she breathed back.

“How—”

Turning on her side, she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, smoothing her fingers over his muscular chest. “My friend Lucy is a Scrabble fanatic.”

They took a break for dinner, munching on more of the savories that Rhys had packed for lunch before he started a fire. Now they sat on the couch, Melina practically in his lap and Rhys playing with her hair. Enveloped in a soft blanket, she stared at the fire, wondering what part of the day would become her favorite fantasy once the weekend was over.

“You went somewhere,” he said. “What's wrong?”

She jolted, stunned that he would pick up on her change of mood so quickly. Forcing herself to smile, she shook her head. “Nothing. I just realized I never got to tie you up. Or down, for that matter.”

His hand stilled. “So what's stopping you?”

She kissed his shoulder. “I'm not sure I have that kind of energy right now. Can we try tomorrow, maybe?”

Blowing out a beleaguered sigh, he shrugged. When he spoke, his voice was tight. “I can't make any promises about that.”

Fear had her heartbeat racing. Pulling away, she sat up, searching his face. “I'm sorry. If you want to, we can do it now. I just thought we could—”

He shook his head and cupped her face in his hands. “I was kidding, Melina.”

Closing her eyes in relief, she slapped his shoulder. “I knew that.”

“You did, huh?” He pulled her back into his arms so that her back rested against his chest and his chin nudged the top of her head. He took a deep breath. “You still use the shampoo your mom made for you.”

“Mmm. I guess I'm just a creature of habit.” She peered up at him. “Although you're certainly changing that.”

“I haven't changed anything,” he said seriously. “You're still the same person you were. You're just giving yourself permission to be who you really are.”

“Hmm. Well, one thing's for sure. I never thought I'd get here.”

“Here?”

“In your…I mean, one of the Dalton twins’ arms,” she clarified in a panic.

Rhys stiffened.

She cringed.

Holy moly. Had she actually said that? Not only did she almost reveal how she felt about Rhys, but she'd pretty much implied he and Max were interchangeable. Remembering what he'd said about the woman in the trench coat and lipstick wanting him for his stage persona, rather than himself, she shook her head and wrenched around to face him. “I mean—”

Rhys released her and stood. The frown on his face confirmed that he'd taken her words in the worst way possible.

“So were you thinking of me or Max the whole time?” he said.

“Rhys, I'm sorry. That's not—”

“Maybe you switched back and forth depending on what we were doing? Tell me, was it me you were riding like a wild bronco, or was it my brother?”

She stood, pulling the blanket around her when his hard gaze swept down her naked body. For the first time, she saw disgust in his eyes. She reached out, cringing when he pulled away. “That's not what I meant, Rhys. Honest. Please don't think that.”