Page 82 of Single Malt

“If I’m too rough, tell me.”

I did look at him now, letting myself enjoy the view for a moment before saying, “I’m not a china doll. I won’t break.”

I’d never truly understood what it meant for someone’s eyes to smolder until that very moment. There was no other way to describe how those blue-green depths looked as they locked with mine. We held each other’s gazes, but I couldn’t say for how long. Seconds. Hours.

Then he moved, and the spell was broken.

No, not broken, just changed. Whatever magic was working between the two of us exploded the moment he buried himself inside me. Each thrust remade it, created something so strong and intense that my body physically shook. It was too much to hold in, and I cried out.

Too many emotions and sensations fought for dominance for me to be able to process all of them, or any of them, for that matter. His hands moved over my body, up to my hair, down to my breasts, between my legs, each touch setting me on fire. I burned, and he did what he’d vowed. He made me forget everything but the white-hot heat that promised precious oblivion.

“Almost there.” He yanked my body up, his chest to my back. When he pressed his mouth to the side of my neck, I tilted my head to make it easier for him. “I want you to come, Freedom. Scream my name. Scream for me, so I know you’re not thinkin’ of anyone else.”

His accent was showing itself, and I felt a stab of pride that I could affect him that much.

“Now.” It was a command. “Come for me. Now!”

At the last word, he bit down on the place my shoulder and neck met, the shock jarring me into climax. I could do nothing but what he’d asked. I screamed his name and didn’t care if his brother heard me. Didn’t care that the rush of emotion that came with my orgasm was far more serious than I’d ever let myself imagine.

He drove into me twice more, and then his body stiffened. He groaned my name, his arms tightening around me as he kept us together, riding out our pleasure almost as if we were one being. We’d accomplished what we’d come here to do. Forget everything that’d happened. Forget everything but each other.

My mind was wonderfully blank as we slumped onto the bed, and I let him stay wrapped around me, enjoying the peaceful quiet. The feel of his body curled around mine. His breathing becoming more and more even. The scent of him and us permeated the air.

But it couldn’t last.

With the receding pleasure came the rushing forward of all the things we’d put aside. All the things I now felt that I didn’t want to feel. Things I hadn’t wanted to acknowledge. Things that could ruin everything if I gave them reign.

So, despite how badly I wanted to stay, I untangled myself from his arms and sat up. “That was amazing.”

“It was.” His fingers traced a pattern on my bare hip. “Give me a couple minutes, and I can try to top it.”

I smiled, trying to only let the good shine through. “I don’t want to overstay my welcome, and since this is your brother’s place, I think I’d better get going.”

I was off the bed and pulling together my clothes before he could argue. But he didn’t argue. He simply pulled on his pants and asked if I wanted him to call me a cab.

I said no, hoping he’d just let me leave, because the longer I was around him, the more I wanted to stay. I didn’t know if he sensed what I was feeling or if he was simply being a gentleman, but he walked me down to the lobby and waited until I got into a cab before he walked away, all without saying a word.

Dammit all to hell.

I should’ve shut him down the moment he’d approached me on New Year’s Eve. What was happening between us wouldn’t lead anywhere good.

It never did.