Page 76 of Catcher's Lock

Or maybe it’s because our past ghosts linger, the echo of honesty a painful weight between us.

He’s rinsing the last shampoo from his hair with his head tipped back, and I’m watching the water pooling in the hollow of his throat and wondering if it would taste different if I drank it off his skin when it finally hits me.

He’swaiting.

Because I said “three things,” and I said “let me seduce you,” and because I’ve made all the first moves in this new dance we’re trying.

Because he doesn’t trust me.

The boy who conquered his fears to kiss me in the truck and unbutton my shorts and take my cock in his inexperienced hand is gone, and I’m the one who killed him. Now I’m left with this beautiful, naked,cautiousman, and it’s up to me to prove I’m worth another chance—that I won’t punish him again for being brave.

“Onething,” I blurt.

He cracks his eyes to peer at me through damp and darkened lashes. “Not three?”

I shake my head, backing up against the warm tile, and tease my cock to full wakefulness. Relief flashes through me when he tracks the movement of my hand and his dick stiffens in response.

“Are you going to tell me what it is?” he asks. “Or make me guess?”

“I want a do-over.”

He swallows, licking his lips, and it’s my turn to wait, knowing he got the message.

The moment drags out, indecision flickering across his features, and I’m almost ready to call it and beg forgiveness when he moves.

The next second, he’s looming over me, one arm braced against the wall above my head while he drags the knuckles of his other hand up the underside of my erection.

“Are you saying you’re ready to face-fuck me into submission?” he asks in a voice full of gravel.

A helpless groan escapes me.I mean, yes?But I keep my hands out of his hair with a supreme force of will, and my voice only cracks a little when I speak. “Is that what you wanted to happen that night?”

He drops his forehead to mine and shifts his hips to pin me to the wall, his cock slotting into place against mine. The slick slide of sensitive skin eats at my control, but since I’m trying to be good and let him take the lead, I only thrust once before dropping my head back and surrendering to the slow rock of his hips.

I do snake my arms around his waist and grab his ass.

Which. Feels. Fucking.Amazing—all taut muscle bunching under my palms and his tantalizing crease teasing my fingertips. When I dip one in to explore, his breath leaves him in a rush, and he crushes his mouth to mine.

There he is.

The kiss is hard and hungry, his rough stubble scraping my lips as his tongue demands entrance. When I open for him, he licks inside my mouth, flicking my piercing and making low, ravenous grunts like I’m the best thing he’s ever tasted. The sounds travel all the way to my toes, igniting each cell in their path, and when he breaks away, I pant against his mouth, breathless and giddy.

“I wasn’t thinking that far ahead,” he says, and it takes me a minute to remember I asked him a question.

“Oh” is all I manage, because my brain is lust-addled and currently lodged somewhere in my dick. “Um. So…”

“So maybe we start where we left off and see what happens?”

I’m nodding before he’s done asking, because he’s already sliding down my body, and the wet curls on his chest are causing a riot over my abs and along my cock. He sinks back on his heels, his muscled thighs squeezed into the narrow tub to lift his heavy cock and drawn-up balls like an offering on an Adonis platter. Memory flickers when he splays a hand over my hip, and his eyes aren’t whiskey or chocolate or anything cozy—they’re blown-out pools of dark desire.

“Rocket,” I warn, when he continues to sit there tracing slow, maddening circles with his thumb a half inch from where I want him. “I’m trying really hard to be sweet and sensitive and let you take control, but if you keep looking at me like that, I’m gonna have to do something.”

He blinks, huffing a startled laugh.

“Sweet, huh? I love that you’re trying to be careful with me, but I’m not triggered,” he assures me. “I believe you’re not going to stop me this time.” Something wry and wicked glints through his amusement. “You want control? Go ahead and take it.”

My breath catches. “Oh, so itislike that, huh?” Heat rushes up my spine when he shrugs.

“I’ve had time to think about it.”