Page 27 of I Love You, I Hate You
The hand on her hip drifted lower, flirting with the waistband of her shorts before sliding between her thighs. His palm cupped her mound firmly and she sucked in a sharp breath. “You don’t get to kick me out the second we’re finished,” he warned.
She kept her hand on his jaw, his face just inches from hers. “Didn’t take you for a cuddler,” she said as lightly as she could. His fingers traced her folds through the cotton, the pressure maddening and enticing all at once.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me. But even if this is just a quick screw, I’m not skulking out immediately like there’s something to be ashamed of.”
Her stomach flipped over at his words. “Fine. But you can’t spend the night.”
“No sleeping over, got it,” he said, and ground the heel of his palm against her clit until she whined.
“Anything else?” she asked, impatient.
“Not at the moment, no,” he said with a smirk.
Half of her wanted to wipe that grin off his face and the other half of her was going out of her skin, so Victoria cracked. “Then fuck me,” she ordered, and sealed her lips to his.
She was going to kill him. His autopsy was going to read “Cause of death: Victoria Clemenceaux,” and he couldn’t even be mad about it because this was the way to go: her lips hungrily seeking his, her body soft and pliable against him. He’d never seen her like this and it was dangerous, because he liked her this way, vulnerable and undone. He suspected few people got to see Victoria like this and the possessive, prideful part of him preened. He had always thought of her as a slinky nightgown type of woman but the way she looked tonight—a simple bra and panties and a robe that was hardly more than a scrap of silk—worked for her too. He’d been temporarily struck dumb when he saw her, entranced by the braid dangling over one shoulder and the way she clamped her lower lip between her teeth.
But now, with her hair loose around her shoulders and spilling through his fingers, he wondered if he’d ever really been alive before. Owen pulled her back to him, unable to resist tipping her face to his for another kiss. Twined together, they stumbled towards what he assumed was her bedroom, but he wasn’t about to stop kissing her to check.
God, he liked kissing her. He took her face in his hands and tilted it to the side for better access, his tongue seeking hers languidly. She looped her arms around his neck and smiled against his mouth, nipping playfully at his lower lip and pulling back to make him chase her. He nudged her back against the mattress and followed her, covering her with the full length of his body before letting her roll them over.
It was so easy, being with Victoria. So easy and so, so good. They had left a trail of clothing behind them, and when she finally rid him of his underwear, her hand around his cock made him groan. Being inside her was better than anything he’d ever felt, and while she braced herself against her headboard Owen pressed his head into the pillows, letting her ride him. She was close, he could tell, so close her muscles were trembling and she’d lost the power of speech. Victoria dropped her hand between her thighs and he pushed it away, replacing her fingers with his. He wanted to be the one who gave her this, the need so strong and deep it felt like it had always existed.
She made a noise that sounded something likepleaseand he kept going, pulling her with him until they both let go.
They collapsed into a sweaty tangle of limbs. Owen tugged her back to him, unable to resist tipping her face to his for another kiss. He hauled her half on top of him, rearranging them until her head was resting against his chest. She sighed and Owen kissed the top of her head, trying to remember the last time his heart felt so light and full at the same time.
“Remember, this was our deal,” he said, but there was a note of humor in his voice and part of her was glad he was holding her to it. She let her leg settle between his and rested her head on the soft space between his shoulder and chest. Without thinking, she pressed a kiss to his skin and trailed her fingers up and down his arm.
“Just don’t let me fall asleep,” she mumbled, because already she could feel herself melting into him. There was a good chance she would be mortified by how defenseless she was later, but right now, all she wanted was to listen to the steady thump of his heart.
“Scout’s honor,” he promised.
Owen’s arm came up around her back and he carded his fingers through her long, tangled tresses. His nails scraped at her scalp and she moaned softly. She felt, rather than saw, him smile in response, and he nestled just a little closer to her. “Tell me something about yourself,” he said after several long moments had passed. “I feel like I know a lot about you, but I don’t, really.”
“What do you want to know?” she asked sleepily.
He shrugged with his free shoulder. “I dunno. Just something about you. Where’d you grow up? You said you had grandparents in Fargo?”
“Yeah, but I grew up all over,” she said, yawning. “Mom and I moved around a lot.”
“It was just the two of you?”
“Yep. ThinkGilmore Girls, but make it trailer park.”
Owen chuckled and then fell silent, frowning. “Hey, random question—do you have a Twitter account?”
Victoria froze. She had no idea what would make him ask that, but she knew she didn’t want him to find her account. It felt too personal, even for someone who had made her come just a few minutes ago. “Nope,” she said, hoping she sounded breezy. “Don’t really have time for much social media. I’ve got a sorely neglected Facebook account but that’s it.”
Owen made a soft noise in response and dropped a kiss to the top of her head. She let out a long breath, willing herself to relax again, and snuggled deeper into his embrace. “What about you? What was your childhood like?” she asked.
“Very un-Gilmore Girlslike, I’m afraid.” She swatted at him and he laughed. It was a deep, rumbling sound, and suddenly she wanted to take back her earlier rule and ask him to spend the night, but kept that urge tucked away. “I grew up around here.”
“I already knew that. Tell me something else.”
“Something else,” he murmured. His fingers were still working through the knots in her hair, gentle and deft. “Okay, how’s this. I wanted to be a veterinarian when I was little, but then I found out it wasn’t just playing with cats all day, so I decided to be a lawyer.”
“How old were you?”