Below the Belt(32)
“Oh, that’s too bad.” She took the tiniest of sips. “Tempting is way more fun.”
He set the water bottle down on the table in front of them, then reached over for the beer. Since it was half gone, she figured he could have the last of it and still be okay to drive home within the hour. Safe bet. She let him take it from her, but he surprised her by placing it next to his water. “I’d rather just have a taste.”
She waved a hand. “Feel free to kill that one.”
“Nope, not what I want.”
She could get him a fresh beer, but then he’d have to wait at least an hour before going home. It was already . . . She glanced up for the clock, but found him watching her instead. And suddenly, she realized when he said taste, he didn’t actually mean the beer.
And she was totally okay with that.
*
BRAD waited for the signal to stop, slow down, back up.
It never came.
So he lowered his body over hers on the couch and kissed her. The taste of the beer on her tongue was nothing compared to the sweet pressure of her lips against his. Her arms looped over his neck and pulled him down over her. He let his tongue dip in farther to explore, and she met him with every stroke. As he turned to fit his mouth better over hers, her hands started unbuttoning his shirt. He had a white undershirt beneath it, but even just the feel of her hands bumping against his chest, knowing what they were doing, kicked his erection from “starting up” to “ready to go” in a second flat. His own hands cupped her head and massaged through her short, blonde hair. She moaned as he did, and he knew without being told she loved it.
Her fingers finished with the buttons and pushed until he slipped the shirt off. But he never broke contact with her mouth. He felt like he would rather give up a limb than stop kissing her. As her hot little hands streaked under his white T-shirt to play over his back, his shoulder blades tightened and danced with anticipation.
Her husky chuckle into his mouth echoed between them. “Like that, huh?”
“About as much as you like this,” he responded, scratching lightly through her hair. He pulled back enough to watch her eyes drift closed and her lips purse together with a hum of pure bliss.
“We’re a pair. Both of us getting off on scratches.”
She cracked one eye. “I like to think it means we’re both extraordinarily sensual people who take pleasure in the simple things. It’s not a negative.”
“Whatever you just said, I like it.” He kissed the tip of her nose.
With one knee on the couch and the other foot totally extended to the floor, his balance was precarious at best. And now that his mind wasn’t focused on kissing, he realized his knee was screaming. “Not that I don’t enjoy a trip back in time to neck on the couch, but can we take this to your bed instead?”
She blinked, and he swore for a second that his balls cried out in frustration. Please don’t let that have ruined everything.
But she smiled slowly, like a cat who had found where her owner hid the cream, and nodded. “Follow me.”
He stood back, fighting the wince as his knee protested, and helped her up. She glanced down at her pajamas and blushed a little.
“Guess I forgot to wear my lingerie.” She made a face. “Would you believe it was laundry day, and my usual sleepwear is in the rinse cycle?”
“If you tell me you have these pants because you watch Family Guy, then I’m going to say that’s sexier than a nightie.”
“Religiously,” she affirmed.
“That does it. Woman, I’ve got to have my way with you.” He charged at her and she shrieked and ran down the hall until she hit her bedroom, then flung herself on the bed.
He kicked off his shoes and socks at the door to the bedroom, then pulled his undershirt over his head. When she made a sound, he glanced at the bed before dropping it by his shoes. “What?”
She rolled to her stomach, her head pillowed on her arms. “The way guys do that is just sort of the best.”
He looked over his shoulder, then down at his hands. “Do what?”
“Take their shirts off like that. Just gripping it from behind and ripping it over their heads like that. It’s so aggressive. Like, Who cares about being calm and orderly? I’ve gotta get naked this second.” She grinned when he laughed at her imitation of a deep voice. “It’s just a girl thing we happen to like about guys.”
Not one to argue when the odds were in his favor, he shrugged and moved toward her. “I’d do it again, but I’m out of shirts.”
“You can borrow one of mine and try.”
He looked at her narrow torso in disbelief. “Let’s save it for next time.”
Eyes gleaming, she reached for him. He prayed his knee would respond better on a well-cushioned mattress and crawled to her. But she flipped the tables on him and pushed him until he was flat on his back. Then she did the sexiest thing he’d ever seen and straddled him, so her ass cradled his erection. Watching his eyes, she crossed her arms and reached to the bottom hem of her shirt. In one swoop of motion, she pulled it up and over her head, flinging it to a corner of the room.
Her breasts bounced free. She hadn’t been wearing a bra this entire time. How had he missed that? Thank Jesus he had missed that, or he would have been on her from the moment he walked through her door.