Page 43

He made a low, tortured sound and spun me around, and then we were kissing.

I tugged at his shirt, wanting it up, off, but he ignored the obvious request, and it made me wonder how bad the wound on his side really was.

Our feet tangled, the back of my knees hit the mattress, and down we went, Junior managing to control the fall so we landed sideways.

He rolled us into a more central position with me on top and then pushed at my shoulders until I was straddling him. His hands landed on my hips, biceps flexing. With a tug, he dragged me over his body. “Get up here,” he said, voice rough with impatience.

“What do you—”

Another yank, and I was on his chest.

“Grab the headboard, Lauren.”

I did as he said, and he scooted lower, clearly intending for me to ride his face.

“What if I suffocate you?” I asked.

“You don’t have to look so excited by the idea,” he shot back.

I grinned. “It’d be the perfect murder.”

He laughed. “Then I guess that makes me your willing victim.” With a final shove, he disappeared from sight beneath the skirt of my dress.

My answering chuckle turned into a gasp as he tugged me down.

Straight onto his face. One thing I was learning about Junior was that he didn’t fuck around; instead, he got right down to business.

His tongue tasted my entrance and then pushed inside, curling, twisting.

Oh, fuck. My fingernails dug into the headboard, and I held perfectly still, kneeling there, unable to bring myself to put any more weight on him, despite his If I die, I die attitude.

A low growl vibrated through me, and I shivered, despite his obvious displeasure.

He tugged again, harder this time, hard enough that I was finally pressing down.

My eyes fluttered shut as he continued to devour me, that magic tongue of his making me want to grind on him despite my lingering hesitation.

One hand left my hip and slipped beneath my dress.

His thumb brushed against my clit. I moaned for him, loud, making up for how quiet I’d had to be the last time he touched me.

He pulled his mouth away. “Move, Lauren. I won’t say it again.”

And then his tongue was back and his thumb kept working me, and I swear I was going to do what he said but it just felt so good to stay right where I was that—

He spanked me.

I yelped, caught off guard, my eyes flashing wide.

Another slap, not hard enough to really hurt, but with enough force that it was obvious he was trying to get me to move. This was probably a good time to mention that I actually enjoyed a nice, firm spanking.

His hand left my ass again, and I glanced right to see it hovering behind me in idle threat.

I shifted forward over his face, still thinking this was risky, but the act of squeezing all my inner muscles as I rolled my hips felt so good that I decided to it again.

And again. And, oh, fuck , now that I’d started, I didn’t want to stop, because every fall had me pressing into his tongue and every rise had me thrusting into his stroking finger, and based on the encouraging noises Junior was making, he didn’t want me to stop either, so I kept going, my hands gripping the headboard and my hips picking up speed.

I really hoped he knew his own limits and had the strength to push me off him if this was too much, because now I couldn’t seem to control myself.

His tongue stroked deeper, thumb worked faster, the hand on my ass shoving me forward like he was more than into this, and soon my back was arching and my head fell forward, lips open on a strangled scream as my pleasure peaked and I came all over his face.

It was rough, messy, the first time I’d come in this bedroom in a long time without having to worry about lighting or camera angles or if what I was doing looked good.

For once, all that mattered was how I felt, how he’d made me feel .

I tumbled off him, boneless. “Oh my god, Nic.”

He crawled up my body, slowly, dropping kisses every few inches, shoving my dress up as he went. “Mmm,” he said. “I like hearing you call me that.”

I lifted my head to meet his eyes. “Nic?”

He nodded. “Say it again.”

“Nic,” I breathed.

“That’s the name I want on your tongue,” he told me. “Not Junior. And yes, I know you’ve been using it intentionally to keep some space between us, but I don’t want you to anymore, so cut it the fuck out, Lo.”

My pussy spasmed at the authority in his tone. “Don’t boss me around or I’ll come.”

He dropped his forehead to my belly, shoulders shaking with laughter. I wound my fingers into his hair, just because I could, just because I wanted to, and relaxed deeper into the mattress, loving the weight of him pressing me down, loving the fact that I had actually made him laugh.

A sharp ring cut through the room. His phone, always ruining the mood.

I let my arms fall away, forcing myself to keep quiet instead of telling him to ignore it.

He’d promised to never interfere in my work, and the least I could do was return the favor.

If he had to take the call, he had to take it, and I had to accept that this would be part of our dynamic if we continued spending time together.

With a groan, he rolled off me, tugging the device from his pocket and bringing it to his ear. “What?” He shot upright. “Where?” He swore. “I’ll be there in twenty.” He hung up, and the expression on his face as he turned toward me was tortured. “I’m sorry.”

I sat up. “Don’t be. It’s okay.”

“I’ll come back,” he said.

“No worries.” I shrugged. “Casual, remember?”

His eyes darkened, and in a blink, he’d flattened me back to the mattress, elbows braced beside my head, hips pinning mine.

He rolled into me, his jean-covered erection rough against my sensitive skin, sending an aftershock of bliss rocketing through my core.

“What if I said I want something more than casual?”

I stilled beneath the weight of his gaze, digging deep and trying to find courage, trying to ignore the memories of how badly he’d once hurt me. “I’m scared,” I confessed.

He tipped forward, pressing our foreheads together. “I know. We can take it as slow as you need.”

I searched his eyes, wondering if I was making a huge mistake. Slowly, I nodded. “Okay.”

He surged forward, kissing me, tongue merciless and demanding, working my mouth like he’d just worked my pussy.

I wrapped my legs around him and drew him closer.

With a shallow thrust, he ground his erection against me, making me squirm, making me wish we had more time.

I wanted his dick inside me. His entire dick this time, hard and fast and brutal, but I doubted we had the time.

With a groan, he broke away. “God, I want to fuck you.” His eyes were wild in the dying light. “And I want to talk about what’s going on between us, but I have to go, and I hate that I’m leaving you like this.”

I grinned. “Like what? Wrung out from how good you tongue-fucked me?”

He shook his head. “You know what I mean.” His brows drew together. “I don’t know how long this will take.”

I leaned forward, pressing one last kiss to his lips. “It’s all right if you can’t make it back. Just let me know you’re safe.”

Several minutes later, we crept downstairs. I didn’t hear any sounds in the apartment, so I figured Ryan was still out.

“Incoming!” they yelled as we hit the first floor, making me jump.

Walter came tearing around the corner toward us, and I had just enough time to get really nervous, because this wasn’t how I wanted him and Juni—no, Nic —to meet, but Nic held a hand up and said “stop” in the most commanding tone I’d ever heard, and Walter scooted to a halt and sat without having to be told.

The two eyed each other for a long moment.

“We good?” Nic asked.

Walter ducked his head, tail thumping, and I knew everything would be fine.

“All right,” Nic huffed, squatting down to Walter’s level. “Come on, then.”

Walter went bananas, sprinting the final few feet to Nic, sniffing every part he could reach and whacking him with his tail more times than I could count.

“I’ve never seen him so instantly obsessed with someone before,” I said.

Nic shot me a smug look. “Takes after his mother.”

Ryan guffawed from nearby. Taylor let out an answering snort, and I yanked my gaze up to see my roommates and Jackson all spread out on the couch.

Huh. We must have been in my room longer than I realized.

It felt like the face riding had lasted all of a minute, but now I was starting to wonder if sex with Nic was so good that I’d ended up in a time warp or something.

“All right. I know,” he said, straightening. He gave Walter one last pet before raising his gaze to mine. “I’ve got to go.”

“Drive safe?” I said.

He nodded and turned to wave at our onlookers. “Enjoy the rest of your night.”

Taylor waved back. “You, too, you dirty little slut.”

Nic shook his head, dropped a parting kiss on my forehead, and left.