Page 65 of On Merit Alone

I shook my head as I looked at her. “You are arguably the most amazing woman I’ve ever met—If you tell my mom I said that I will deny it.”

She laughed, I continued. “You’re not only incredibly strong Mer, but incredibly decisive too. You know what you want, and you go get it. It’s inspiring, and also a little intimidating. I didn’t want to seem like this wishy-washy indecisive punk around you, because I wanted to impress you.”

“What?” She blinked, shocked.

“Six, c’mon.” I shifted. “You knew all of this.”

She shook her head and stared up at me. “I had no idea you were worrying about something as crazy as impressing me. You caught me staring at pictures of you. I’m pretty impressed.”

“Yeah, but that’s just basketball.” I shrugged .

She blinked. Then reaching for me, she slid her hands along my forearms in a gentle caress. She might be sober enough to have this conversation, but not sober enough to control her wandering hands.

“Ira, I’m not just impressed with you as a basketball player.

I know I’m messed up but I’m not that messed up.

I can see past your ability to shoot baskets,” she said and I think my breath stuck in my throat.

She touched my chest, patting it. “What I'm impressed with is you . The you in here. How kind you are. How empathetic and devoted and dependable you can be. Even through incredible fame and accomplishment you’ve remained that way. You’re a genuinely good person and I’m impressed, King. I admire that in you.”

Well damn. And wasn’t that what I feared? That while I thought of her as so much more than the incredible athlete that she was, but also the incredible, determined woman that she was, that she only thought of me as some meathead.

I had no idea that she thought so much of me. It felt right that I thought the world of her too.

Sighing, I ran my fingertips up the side of her arm, liking the feel of her smooth skin under them. When I caught her eyes, they were already watching me, a different sort of expression filling them.

“Is it the alcohol making you so talkative or did you just miss me?” I asked.

Her hands floated from my forearms to my abdomen, petting me unabashedly. I hid a smirk as she sighed into her ministrations. “Both, I think.”

“And what about the hands?” I asked. “Are you touching me like this because you want to or because of the happy juice?”

“I want to,” she answered right away in a breathy little voice that made my nerves stir to life.

Suddenly, I couldn’t resist reaching up and touching the little straps that held up her even littler top.

Testing their strength and letting them snap back to her skin gently.

Now that I knew she wasn’t mad at me anymore, I couldn’t help but enjoy seeing her looking so good.

“You’re barely wearing any clothes, Six. What’s that about?”

Humming, the little minx slipped her roaming hands under the hem of my shirt and looped her thumbs into the top of my pants. Running her fingers along the seam all the way around in a way that made me twitch, if you know what I mean.

And then she went and said something I didn’t expect from her. Sometimes I forgot that while she was definitely shy about her feelings she was not shy about urges.

There was nothing shy about the way she looked up at me, admitting. “It’s for you.”

I swallowed a groan as I looked up to the ceiling. The twitch quickly turning into a full blown erection from her words alone. I took a step back so I wasn’t tempted to grind against her, and that’s when I noticed a scrap of glittering blue.

Slowly, I closed my eyes, praying for assistance to help me have strength. My voice was almost unrecognizable as I asked, “You know I can see you when you sit like that, sweetheart?”

“Mhmm,” she said and when I peeked an eye open, she had spread her legs a little further apart. Her hands fell to rest behind her as she leaned back against them, basically baring herself open to me.

Fuck .

I opened my eyes, unable to stop them as they ate up the sight of her.

That sexy little outfit was already stretched out around her extravagant body.

It stretched even more as she sat like that.

Barely hanging on by a thread, it seemed.

The glittery blue I’d caught a glimpse of was on full display for me now.

I didn’t know whether to be annoyed or thankful that she decided to wear the tiniest, almost see-through scrap of fabric under her already tiny outfit.

I wanted to be mad—anyone could have lifted up her skirt and seen what I was seeing now.

But I couldn’t find the anger inside of me, not when I was too busy burning for a different reason.

Forcing my eyes to hers, I raised a questioning eyebrow. “So this is for me?”

She nodded slowly, holding my gaze the whole time. I cursed out loud this time and stepped forward between her knees. My hands ate up the feel of her as I ran them up her long legs, stopping at her thighs and squeezing the supple flesh there.

She moaned and I caught it on my mouth as I pressed a kiss there.

Slipping my mouth over hers in a way that almost consumed her.

Needing her as I bit down on her bottom lip before sucking its sweetness into my mouth.

She tasted good. Like sugar and tequila.

I knew because she licked her tongue into my mouth, effectively drugging me with the sensual feeling of her opening to me like that. Of her exploring me like she was.

Breathless, I pulled back. Resting my head on her forehead and trying to catch my breath. Or control my hands that had now slipped underneath the fabric of her skirt and were cupping a good amount of her ass as I took her mouth.

Shit, I hadn’t meant to do that. Until now, I'd only shared the sweet kinds of kisses with Merit.

The ones that were inevitable after the way our hearts had attached to each other.

The ones that were extensions of the feelings I was trying to relay to her through my words and actions.

The ones that said, I love you without words necessary.

This was not that kind of kiss. This was the kind of kiss that said, I want you . I want you possibly right here in the back of some random club and I might not care who else sees.

Though that might be fun at some point, that’s not what I wanted our first sexual encounter to look like. I wanted to do everything right for this girl. Everything good for her. She deserved it, and I needed to make sure she got it .

But damn she was sexy, and damn I wanted her more than I wanted air right now.

“What did you drink?” I asked, trying to distract myself and calm my dick.

“Lots of tequila,” she said.

“Tequila makes you fun, got it.”

“If we’re being accurate, tequila makes me bold,” she said. “But it all makes me horny.”

I hissed, my hands squeezing on her soft curves in response. “You’re going to drive me crazy, sweetheart.”

“That was the plan,” she said on a moan.

“I don’t want to do anything here. Not like this.”

“I want you to do everything here. Now ,” she said.

“ Merit ,” I growled.

“I like how you say my name,” is all she said, her fingers playing along any bare skin she could find. I groaned and her eyes found mine, curious and entranced. “Please Ira, I need you.”

This broke me. Leaning into her, I kissed down her neck, nipping at her throat before kissing my way back up to her mouth.

Hovering over her, I said, “Do not beg me for anything, Mer. I’ve made it clear that I want to make you happy.

I want you to have everything you’ve ever wanted in this world.

I don’t ever want you to have to beg for a thing in your life, but I am not fucking you in the back of a club, so please don’t ask me to. ”

“But—”

I kissed her gently to cut off her words. “I’m talking, baby. Let me finish.”

“Fine.”

“You came here to punish me, didn’t you?” I asked.

“Yes,” she answered right away. “And to get drunk.”

I smiled. “You’re doing good then. But don’t let me off so easy. Make me pay for it, Mer.”

She paused for a second, her mouth pressing up but not kissing me. I fought hard not to chase the feeling of those sweet lips again. This was for her. “So I can touch you?”

“Yeah,” I answered.

“But you can’t touch me?” she asked, and damn if she didn’t sound excited by that.

I laughed and groaned, my emotions confused at all the things she made me feel. “If those are your rules, I’ll play.”

“Right here?” she asked again.

I slipped a glance sideways. From where we sat, we were half covered by the wall. We could see into the crowded dance floor but unless they were searching for something, they couldn’t see us.

“Within reason, yeah,” I said.

She hummed an excited sound that had me chuckling and then groaning as she snaked her hands around my back and pulled me into her in a way that had her warm center brushing against the front of my pants.

Her soft chest pressing against mine in a way that let me know exactly what parts of her were hardened.

“Mmm,” I groaned as my body involuntarily rolled against hers, the friction making us both shiver with anticipation. “Just… be nice, okay?”

“Hands on the wall, King,” she ordered with an evil little lilt to her voice. I looked at her. She looked positively devilish. And serious as she blinked up at me and waited for me to do what I was told.

Slowly, I slipped a hand behind her. Grabbing onto her waist and lifting her slightly to scoot her further onto the box.

Stepping forward, I moved myself closer to the wall.

Deeper between her legs. She moaned sweetly as our bodies moved together, but that’s all I allowed myself to touch before I raised my hands to the wall above her head.

She pushed her hands up the front of my torso, greedy little fingers running along the plains of my body. I tried not to shiver, but it was impossible when she ran her nails down my sides like that .

One last time, she asked, “So I have permission to do whatever I want with you?”