Page 112 of The Friends and Rivals Collection

PERRI

There are hard decisions. There are easy decisions. And there are no-brainers.

When Derek leaves, I don’t say one, two, three . I don’t employ patented techniques of discipline. Nor do I turn and head the other way.

I simply hit replay on his last words.

Come find out.

I listen to those three words over and over, letting them ripple through my body, linger on my skin, and turn me on and on.

It’s like he’s flipped open the lid of a jeweled chest of desires, and he’s luring me with his invitation to explore the treasures inside. I want to know everything it holds. I want to head upstairs, turn the corner, and find him in bed.

I want to discover him, and to find us , because I’m dying for him.

But there’s more than mere lust at stake—that, I can manage on my own, thanks to fingers and wands and twelve-speed friends in my nightstand drawer.

This is different.

This is a longing deep in my bones. It shows no sign of leaving. Because I care for him so damn much.

I like him for more than the body, the face, and the jawline. I like what’s inside. I like what he says. I like who he is.

Maybe that makes the trek upstairs a dangerous idea. In fact, it probably is. But I don’t want to play games anymore either. Taking a deep, fortifying breath, I leave the kitchen, cross the back hallway, and open the door to the stairwell.

I stop at the bottom stair, letting my eyes adjust to the dark. I know these steps. I’ve walked up them. But tonight, they seem to lead to a whole new world. An after-hours den where passion is the offering, where pleasure is the currency, where coming together is the one and only goal.

In my black heels, I take the first step.

Then the next.

With each click of my shoes, I shed my worries. I dismiss the hurdles— he’s my roommate, I need to focus on work, I’m not interested in relationships.

I kick over those roadblocks as I go.

We’re mature adults, and we’re choosing this tonight—we’re choosing the feel-good factor—and all its risks. I’m choosing what I’ve wanted from the start. I wanted all of him in the waffle truck.

I reach the top step, and it’s silent. So quiet and still. I listen for his breath, for a word, a groan.

All I hear is my own hammering heart. I keep going, turning the corner into his room—a wide-open space with a big bed and moonlight streaming through the windows.

He’s lying on top of the covers, eyes closed, hands parked behind his head.

I half expected to find him with his hand wrapped around his cock, shuttling his fist.

But he’s waiting.

Like he promised.

Waiting for me. Wearing his jeans and T-shirt.

It’s my turn. It’s my move.

I make it.

“I found you,” I say into the dark. It feels like I’m speaking for the first time in my life. Like words have eluded me till this moment.

His eyes float open, landing on me. Even from across the room, they’re blazing with lust. “So you did.”

Kicking off my heels, I glance around. He’s barely moved in. “I like what you’ve done with the space,” I say, joking.

He pats the bed. “This is the best part.”

I stare at him for a minute, taking in his long legs, his strong thighs, his flat stomach, and the scruff covering his jaw.

He gazes back, his lips a straight line. It’s still my turn. He’s shown his hand. The rest of the night belongs to me, and I have to decide what cards to play next.

I go all in, pushing every chip to the middle of the table as I slide off a strap of my dress. Trembling, I ask, “Will you take off your shirt?”

He’s up in an instant, tugging his T-shirt over his head in that sexy way men do, tossing it on the floor and stalking over to me.

Roughly, like I want it, he grabs my head, curls his fingers around my skull, and tugs me close. “Get all your clothes off, kitten. I need you naked, and I need it now.”

In a flurry, we’re pulling, tugging, unzipping. There is no slow dance, no striptease. I push down the other strap of my dress and take it off, while he unsnaps the button on his jeans then shoves them down, kicking them off.

My eyes eat him up, savoring the visual feast of his body.

His strong arms covered in art, his firm pecs, his insanely defined abs.

And then there . The birds on the V that leads to what I want.

His hard-on strains against the fabric of his black boxer briefs, showing off the most delicious bulge I’ve ever seen.

My mouth waters, and I ache between my legs. My hand darts out, cupping him.

He growls. “You like that, kitten?”

“Love it,” I murmur as I stroke his hard length. But as much as I savor touching him like this, I want him in the flesh. I push down the waistband, and he shucks off the briefs the rest of the way. His cock is beautiful. Long, thick, hard. Pointing at me.

He gazes at my breasts, barely hidden in lavender lingerie.

“Look at you. Just fucking look at you.” He stares at the demi-cup lace bra and tiny matching panties, fire flickering in his brown irises.

“I knew you wore panties like this. I almost don’t want to remove them, but I have to get you naked. ”

“Please. Just rip them off, Derek.”

He grins, like I’ve given him the keys to the kingdom. “No way am I ruining these beauties. They’re too pretty.”

But he’s fast anyway. Or really, we are together. I flick off my bra and he tugs down my panties, ogling me like a hunter staring at his prey. “You’re so fucking stunning. I want my mouth all over you. I want my cock inside you. I want my hands everywhere .”

I grab his jaw and drag my fingers over his trim beard, loving the rough stubble. “I want all of that, but right now can you just please fuck me and put me out of my misery?”

His smile is wicked and carnal. “Nothing would make me happier than to rid you of all that aching pain of wanting me.”

He slides a hand between my legs, and I whimper, dropping my chin against his shoulder. “ Derek ,” I moan as his strong fingers glide across my slickness. I’m on fire, desire crackling through my veins, igniting my entire body.

Groaning, he rasps out, “This is what I want. All this wetness all over me. You’re so slippery, kitten. So fucking wet. So fucking hot for me.”

I shudder, rubbing against his fingers, rocking into his hand. “Don’t tease me with your fingers. Just take me.”

He steps away, grabbing a condom from the nightstand. “Get on my bed where you belong and spread those gorgeous legs for me.”

A second later, I’m on my back, my legs parted for him. I prop myself on my elbows as I watch him open the wrapper. “Is this how you want me?”

He groans appreciatively as his eyes roam over me. “I want you every which way. I want you on your back, on your belly, with your ass in the air. I want you in the shower, up against the wall, and I want you riding my dick.”

My eyes light up.

He rolls on the condom. “You like that last one?”

“I do. But I want you to control me. Can you do it like that?”

“Kitten, I can fuck you from beneath you, no problem.” With the protection on, he winks and falls to his back on the bed. “Get on me.”

I climb over him, straddling his big, strong body. He holds the base of his cock, and I position myself over him then sink down.

I shudder as he fills me.

I’m so wet, he’s all the way inside me in an instant. He grabs my hips, groaning. “You’re delicious. So tight on my dick.”

Hot tingles spread across my body, darting over my shoulders and sprinting down my arms as I linger on the intensity of taking him in.

He’s so deep, I swear I can feel him stretching me.

He takes the reins, grabbing my hips. With his fingers digging firmly into my flesh, he thrusts up into me, hard and rough.

Even though I’m on top, he’s fully in charge, guiding me up and down with a rhythm so right, so intense, I know it won’t take long. I’m riding him, but he’s fucking me, and I’m racing toward heaven.

Knowing that, feeling it deep in my bones, I let go. I let him do all the work, jutting up his hips, stroking into me as I thread my fingers through my hair, moaning and panting.

“Kitten,” he growls. “You’re so fucking sexy like that. Touching yourself. Playing with your hair. Let me see you touch your tits.”

I part my lips on a pant and slide my hands down my body, cupping my breasts.

He pushes up harder, faster, deeper. “Yeah, do that. Squeeze them. Tease your nipples.”

Pleasure coils in my belly as I knead, as I squeeze, while he strokes up into me. My gasps grow louder, more frequent, and his thrusts turn more frantic. He keeps fucking up into me as I lose myself more and more to the sensations, to the utter intensity of this moment in the darkness of his room.

Desire and lust radiate down my spine, ripple to my toes. Pleasure consumes every cell, and I want to fall into this moment, to ride this sensation to the edge of the Earth.

“I’m close,” I whisper.

“Let me get you all the way there.” With his hands still on my hips, he spreads his fingers wide enough to stroke my clit with his thumb.

And the second he does, I know I’m gone.

I’ve hit the point of no return, and I’m galloping toward the cliff.

I see the strain in his jaw, the intensity in his eyes. He gazes at me with a longing I’ve never seen before. Like he’s as lost to this pleasure as I am. Like there’s never been sex like this before and we’re the only ones who’ve ever felt this wild, this intense, this connected.

That’s what I see in him. That’s what I want to keep seeing, again and again.

“So fucking sexy,” he murmurs as his thumb slides over me, and I shatter.

Coiling, tightening, sinking onto him as I shake, the orgasm pouring its bliss from a pitcher, covering every inch of me. I fall against his chest, wildly bucking, coming apart, shouting incoherent noises of ecstasy.

He grabs my ass hard and pumps up at a fevered pace.

Before I’m even aware of what’s happening, he flips us over, moving me to my hands and knees.

He drives into me, pushing his hand on my back.

I lower my chest to the bed, lifting my ass, and he goes to town.

Owning my body. Taking his pleasure. Giving me more.

I’m boneless, mindless, melting into another orgasm that pounds relentlessly through me as he finds his with a feral roar. “Coming. Coming so fucking hard.”

Growling, he unleashes himself, and it’s wild and crazed and the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard.

It’s everything I wanted it to be.

It’s everything great sex should be.

And I don’t want it to end. I don’t want us to end. I want more and more of him.

That’s the trouble. He’s in, far and deep, and my want for him has only multiplied.