Page 58 of Mercenary

She comes up onto her knees, her beautiful breasts swinging as she moves. I grab my cock with my hand and stroke myself. Once. Twice. Three times, before rolling the condom over me.

“The idea of us . . . fucking?” she asks.

I grin, liking that word coming from her innocent mouth.

“Oh my God. You should do that more often,” she gasps.

I kneel on the bed before her, without thinking. What I should do is climb back off and tell her to bend over the bed. So I can sink into her from behind. Less intimate, more pleasurable that way. “Do what?” I ask, absentmindedly.

“Smile.”

My grin fades.

So does hers. “Okay, no smiling. Do you still like the idea of fucking?” Her tone is full of hesitation.

Oh, what the hell. Right now, I want to get things rolling, get this deal locked and loaded before I completely ruin it. In the long run, the truth’s not going to matter in the least. “Yeah, but that’s not what I meant.” I reach my hand out, touch her shoulder, and give her a gentle push, using enough force to send her tumbling back onto the mattress. I climb over her, wedging myself between her, using my thighs to part her own. “I like the idea of being your first,” I admit.

She blinks, then flashes me a smile so freaking bright, it’s like she’s nailed me in the stomach, winding me. “I imagined you being my first.”

Bam. Another blow.

“Imagined?”

“Okay, fantasized about. Vividly.” I search her face for answers. A pointless act, I discover, as she continues, “Since you kissed me on my birthday.”

Damn it. Figures a goddamn kiss, rare in itself, would come back to haunt me with a vengeance. Disengage. Don’t let her admission get you going. Stay the fuck in control.

“I tried to forget you, to date other men . . .”

She gasps as I take my throbbing erection in my hand and begin stroking myself over the condom. Fighting for control. Fighting a losing battle. Because damn me to hell, I don’t want her thinking about any man but me.

Not now.

Not ever, the confused asshole inside my head whispers.

“It’s always been you.”

It’s my turn to blink. She’s like freshly fallen snow. I want to be a part of it. Let it rub off on me. Let it leave its moist mark on me.

I’m reminded of the girl I’d first met in the trailer, offering me cupcakes and a kiss. She’s grown even more beautiful. Her cheeks fuller, her pale skin a healthy tan. But her lips are the same. Full and pink. And . . . mine.

I bend over, avoiding her lips to place mine against her ear. “Promise me something,” I growl. Damn it. What I should be doing is working my cock into her, taking what I want.

Her head turns but I pin my chin against her ear so she can’t fully look at me. “Okay.”

“Don’t say okay until you hear what it is.”

She sighs. “Okay.”

I grimace, suddenly changing my mind. I hesitate, trying to quickly think of something else to make her promise. But in the end, I give into being a woos-ant and say it anyway. “No matter what, don’t fucking change.”

She considers this. “So . . . are you saying no?”

“No?”

“Don’t change. Keep my V card unstamped.” I pull away to find her scowling at me. Then something crosses her face, something I can’t guess at.

Her fingers wrap around my erection and I jerk my hips back in surprise