Page 74 of Filthy Little Pretties

She’s keeping my eyes shut. I twist my head sideways to try and escape my imprisonment, but she rocks forward, keeping her hold, placing her center directly in line with my dick.

Fuck, that feels incredible.

I give a buck of my hips and hear her squeal. She leans closer, whispering, “You were amazing. An Olympian, Grey. And while I’m still mad at you—if my lips are the prize, then you deserve them.”

The softest feathered kiss presses to my lips. But as quickly as Donovan landed, she’s gone. My fingers feel the sting of wanting to dig into her hips and pull her closer. And my dick feels the loss of not rocking our bodies against each other as I slip my tongue between her lips.

If my eyes weren’t open, watching her run away, I would think I just dreamed that. And if I weren’t entirely depleted, I would run after her, but all I can do is watch as she rejoins the crowd. I lift my sore arms, just barely propping myself up, and bring a finger to my lips, feeling the sticky balm on them.

Cherry. My favorite flavor.

Donovan

“DONOVAN?EARTH TODONOVAN.”

I hear Caroline saying my name, but her words stay lost in a thick cloud of my lust. I shouldn’t have done that. Shit. But watching them, seeing them working in tandem—it’s erotic. But witnessing Grey carry everyone over that invisible line, that took me back to when I was on the boat, caught in his energy, his intensity. I felt it all.

Grey was everything.

My chin half pulls to make my head turn, my mouth falling slightly agape to answer her, but I can’t peel myself from the picture in front of me. Light creates a spotlight for Grey’s back muscles to ripple and bulge through his sweatshirt with every motion he makes as he lifts himself from the boat.

The boat where I just kissed him.

I swore I wouldn’t go there, that I wouldn’t cross this line, but it felt more like a compulsion rather than a decision. The scrunched material around the crook of his elbow puts the veins along his forearms on display as he grips the oars with a rugged force, pulling them from the boat.

“Oh kitten. You’ve got it bad.”

“Quiet,” I mutter to Caroline aloud, still caught in my fantasy.

I’m convinced he rows the way he fucks. Aggressive, arrogant, and better than anyone else. But God, his focus might be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. He’s undeterred from his goal. And the way his thighs strain and work on sliding his large body back and forward, back and forward, with a primal force that gains momentum the closer he gets to the end. That’s what put me over the edge.

My tongue darts out, licking my bottom lip, imagining the taste of salt from the sheen of sweat I assume is trickling down from his brow.

I want to taste him.I should’ve—

“Jesus, Donovan. Wipe the drool off your chin.”

“Shut up, please,” I snap at Caroline. “It’s nothing. Just that…he’s so provocative on the water.”

She hands me a knowing look. “What’s provocative is your spiral into rowing kink. Jesus, I think you came during the race. Just fuck him, Donovan. Then you can finally stop looking like a bitch in heat when he’s around you.”

“I don’t look like that.”Do I? I might.“P.S. is this you trying to be friends? Because you’re still a little intense.”

She raises her eyebrows and smiles. “Unlikely, and don’t hiss at me because you’re gagging for his dick.”

“Eww. Jesus, Caroline. Do you have a middle speed? A girl can appreciate the view without gagging for anything. Grey and I are friends. That’s it,” I answer dryly.

“Mmmkay. Have it your way. But it’s unhealthy to deny yourself. I deny myself nothing.”

I tip my head back and laugh. “I believe you.”

She shrugs, looking at her polished manicure. “Think of it as checking the final box off your high school ‘fuck it’ list.”

All the lines I’ve drawn in the sand seem to be finding themselves wiped away and moved. But sleeping with Grey, that’s a rocky steep cliff I’m not jumping off of. No way in hell.

“It’s called a bucket list, Caroline.”

My shoulders shiver from an unexpected breeze, or maybe it’s my body coming down from my Grey high. Caroline laughs, making me love/hate her even more, and turns her attention to the ruckus in front of us, but I take a moment to ask something that’s been bothering me.