Page 28 of Friends with Benefits

“Screw quick. I need at least a few hours.”

The desperation in his voice made me smile. “You’ll have to up your game, ace. Or is that outside of your expertise?”

“You play dirty,” he said. “Fine, but next time I want at least a couple of hours.”

Then he spun me around, and I was forced to let go of him. Glancing up, I said, “Next time?”

“That’s right. If this goes how I think it will, I’m going to need a next time. And that’s the first rule. Now strip.”

He pulled off his shirt, and I lost the thread of the conversation. His abs rippled underneath his lightly tanned skin. Just underneath his jeans, I spied his tan line and confirmed a mental theory I’d been courting for a while. Tripp practiced without his shirt on. It’s why I rarely went to his practices. Eye candy for days. I wondered if I could now, or was that against the rules?

Which reminded me, “Stripping is the first rule?”

Since I was taking too long to comply, he helped me lift my shirt over my head, and his eyes feasted on my breasts even though they were bound in an unflattering sports bra that did nothing to accentuate them.

When he could speak again, he chuckled darkly, “I won’t say no to that, but I meant that we should always talk to each other. Communication is the first rule, so things don’t get too complicated.”

My nipples beaded underneath the thick material of my sports bra, but it wasn’t because it was cool inside the apartment. It was because he couldn’t stop looking at me. “I can agree to that. What else?”

He eyed me up and down, then slipped a finger down the front of my bra. “This is next,” he said.

I’d never been one to be shy about the naked body—I saw enough of them at work—but I blushed as I contorted to pull off the tight bra, my breasts bouncing free. His hands were there immediately, cupping them, lifting and testing their weight. My nipples were so sensitive that when he thumbed them, the sensation was almost painful.

My voice was thick with lust when I spoke, “I mean, which rule is next?”

Noting my reaction, his thumbs paid intimate attention to my nipples, caressing them in soft swipes that made liquid heat pool low in my stomach. “Honesty. If something changes, if you don’t want to do this anymore, then you tell me. I want you to always feel like you can talk to me.”

“Same to you,” I said, but I was breathing hard. His thumbs were masterful, and when he added his fingers, pinching and squeezing the sensitive buds, I nearly came out of my skin. “Tripp!”

“Shh, I’m trying to focus.” He leaned forward and took one of my nipples into his mouth. His tongue flicked, and he sucked deeply, causing me to arch my back against the counter. I wasn’t even naked, and I was about to come.

“So am I!” I nearly snarled.

“No one else,” he said darkly. “That doesn’t make this a relationship, because I know you’re not ready for that, but I don’t share. And if you find someone else, then you tell me, and we’ll call it quits.”

“Same for you.”

He didn’t say anything to that but helped me out of my yoga pants. I wasn’t wearing anything underneath, which left me completely bare. I suddenly remembered that I’d just been working out. I hadn’t even taken a shower. Oh my God, what if I smelled gross? Shit!

“Tripp, wait, maybe we should take a shower. Clean up first.”

“No time,” he said, and then he knelt in front of me.

“But wait, I’m probably all sweaty—ahhh!”

I didn’t have time to finish my warning. His mouth was already there between my spread legs, which he draped over his shoulders as though I didn’t weigh a thing. I threw my head back as his tongue lapped boldly at me. There wasn’t time to be self-conscious. Tripp simply didn’t allow it. He ate my pussy like he was a starved man, and I was the tastiest thing he’d ever had on his tongue.

There was no hesitation in the way he licked at my clit, no second thoughts. If he had reservations, he didn’t show them. The rasp of his stubble rubbed my inner thighs raw, but I didn’t care. What he was doing felt too good to worry about anything else.

He pulled away long enough to say, “Last rule is we don’t stop until you come.”

Based on the way things were going, I didn’t think that was going to be a problem—which was something, especially for me.

His hands spread my thighs wide, resulting in the need for me to brace my arms on the countertop behind me. The precariousness of the placement made it impossible for me to find a comfortable position. It kept me on edge, excited, uncertain. I never knew how much of a turn-on being reckless could be. Normally, when I had sex, it was always in bed, at night, with the lights off. Now, we were in the middle of my apartment, and the sun was blazing through the front windows.

Then, he reached his hands around my hips to spread my pussy apart. The action shocked me so much that I straightened and looked down at him. And that was it. I couldn’t look away. His eyes were closed as though in rapture. All I could hear were the wet, slick sounds of his tongue and lips sucking and licking at every part of me.

And the moans, oh, God, the moans.