Beneath This Mask (Beneath, #1)(35)

It was the opening I needed. “What are you willing to give me?”

Charlie pursed her lips before answering, “What do you want?”

“You.”

“Done.”

“Information about you,” I clarified.

Her expression turned guarded. I cupped her face and met her eyes. “Simple shit, Charlie. That’s all I want. It’s not that hard.” She broke my stare, and I could almost hear the gears clicking in her head.

“Like what?” she whispered.

“Favorite color.”

Her eyes snapped back up to mine, her surprise clear. She dragged her bottom lip between her teeth and let it slide free. The urge to kiss that gorgeous mouth of hers was intense, but I wanted to hear her answer more.

“All of them.”

A grin tugged at my lips. Of course. One wasn’t enough for her. I rolled and held myself above her. I leaned down and brushed a kiss across her forehead before pulling back to ask my next question.

“Winter or summer?”

“Fall. New England fall.” I kissed her nose.

“Baseball or football.”

“Neither. Hockey.”

I kissed the corner of her mouth before murmuring, “Breaking my heart, babe.”

“Don’t ask if you can’t handle the truth.” She turned her head so my lips met hers squarely.

“Top Gun or Die Hard?”

“Bruce Willis. Definitely.” I kissed her jaw.

“Flowers or chocolate?”

“Sex.” I chuckled against her neck and dragged my teeth down the tendon. She shuddered.

“Sassy woman.”

“Damn straight.”

I pulled back again and gripped the neck of her wife beater with both hands.

“Last question.” I stretched the fabric to telegraph my intentions. The smile that spread across Charlie’s face was pure sin.

“First impression when I walked in the door of Voodoo that night?”

“Preppy douchebag.” I shook my head, because … well, I’d figured that’s exactly what we’d looked like. And then she added, “And can I take him home?” White-hot need flared in every cell of my body.

I jerked my fists apart and tore her tank top down the middle, leaving it in ragged shreds.

Her high, full breasts—tipped with those sexy as hell piercings—were bared to my gaze. And my mouth. I reached down to draw a nipple into my mouth. She buried her hands in my hair and urged me closer. The time for questions was over.






Finally. That was my first thought when Simon tore my shirt apart. Followed closely by, holy shit that was hot. I arched my back as he tugged on my nipple. I wanted more. More Simon. More everything. Ripples of pleasure zinged from my nipples to my clit. His big hands cupped my breasts, and I reveled in the scrape of his calluses against my skin. He turned the attention of his mouth to my other breast and rolled the nipple he’d just released between two fingers. The piercings added a whole new layer of sensation over anything I’d felt before. Before Simon. At that moment, I couldn’t imagine anyone but Simon ever touching me again. My eyes flew open at the thought, but my panic was obliterated when Simon lifted his head and nipped at my lips until I opened to him. His tongue swept inside to duel with mine. I lost myself in the moment and didn’t surface until I felt one of his busy hands skim down my body to slide along the waistline of my pajama pants. He pulled away and stared down at me again.

“Are you sure?”

“God, yes.” I laughed. “What else do I have to say to get you to believe it?”

He studied me, and I had no idea what he was hoping to find. “You have to know this means something to me.”

“I know,” I replied.

“Don’t break my heart, Charlie.”

I slid my hands up through his dark hair, hoping he could see everything I felt for him. Everything I was afraid to put into words. “Not without shattering my own.”

He kissed me again. Long, drugging kisses that made me forget who I was and the heartbreak I would inevitably cause us both.

His lips shifted to my jaw, my neck, my collarbone … before moving south. He hooked a finger in the waist of my pants and pulled them down, dragging my underwear off with them. I kicked them to the floor as Simon levered himself off the bed and crossed to where his jeans were lying over my tiny vanity stool. He produced a condom from his front pocket, and I raised an eyebrow.

“Weren’t planning to hold out last night?”

“Just wanted to be prepared.”

“Boy Scout.”

He gave me a lopsided grin and tugged off his boxer briefs. The teasing words on my tongue vanished. A fully nude Simon Duchesne was … awe-inspiring. He stood confidently and let me stare. My survey caught and stopped at his erection, jutting upward, heavy and thick. I’d obviously been up close and personal with it this morning, but there was something insanely sexy about his self-assured stance. Hell, if I looked as good as he did naked, I’d pose too. Simon tore the condom package open with his teeth and rolled it on before striding back to the bed. He knelt and kissed my calf, the curve of my knee, and then the inside of my thigh. All innocuous locations, but my pulse hammered and I could feel myself growing embarrassingly wet. His hooded hazel eyes tracked up my body to my face.