Can't Shake You (27 page)

“How is it possible that this feels better each time?” she panted and then he rolled them, so he was bent over her, both of them on their knees.

That’s how it’s supposed to be, wasn’t it? When two people were meant to be together? Relentless and earth shattering every single time?

He didn’t tell her that though. Instead he brushed her hair from her neck and, let it fall forward over her shoulders, as he sucked at the spot where her neck curved toward her spine. She groaned again. “I love when you do that.”

“Mmm, me too. You taste amazing.” He licked at the spot he’d nipped, surprised at the caveman urge he suddenly had to suck again, this time higher and less hidden, until she bruised. Until she was marked. And claimed. For all of the world to see.

He held back though and, instead, splayed one hand over her belly, while the other reached up to toy with her nipple. He rolled it between his fingers until it pebbled and she greedily reared back against his thighs, taking the entire length of him.

He hissed and dug his fingers into her skin, gritting out his warning. “You’re gonna make me come if you do that again.”

“I want you to. I want you to come so hard, I feel it inside of me.”

Sweet Jesus. She wanted to play dirty, did she? He could totally get on board with that.

He yanked out of her, flipped over and positioned himself beneath her, his shoulders between her knees. “Sit,” he demanded, his hands smoothing up the back of her thighs and over her ass, squeezing.

“What...?” she stuttered, confusion pinching her face as she pulled back and looked down at him.

So he slapped a cheek hard enough to make her flinch. And then grin.

“You are so bad,” she purred, her eyes melting with desire as she realized his intention.

“You like me bad,” he said, sliding up until he could hook his arms around her legs and position her just right. They’d done this their first night together and it was one of his favorite memories. Her sitting on his face, her hands gripping the headboard as he gave her the ultimate pleasure.

He expected the same, but she surprised him by reaching between her legs, spreading her folds, and playing with her clit. With him right there, front and center for the show.

Beautiful.

But seeing her swirl a pearly tipped finger around that pink bud was almost too much to watch. He wanted to delay his climax, to draw out her pleasure as long as he could, but she was going to ruin him if she kept this up.

“Babe—”

“Shh,” she said, because obviously she had other plans. And she threw his world completely off its axis when she acted on them.

He watched in rapt awe as she lowered her gorgeous sex to his gaping mouth...and fed him.

***

S
he’d never been so brazen before with what she wanted, but then it was no secret, at least to them, that Josh drove her absolutely wild. And the lusty, hazed look in his eyes told her she did something very similar to him too.

She lifted her hips and dipped down again, sweeping herself across his eager, waiting tongue. She shivered when he gave her the full flat of it, licking from slit to clit, before sucking the bead between his lips and torturing her with the most wicked, delicious pressure she’d ever felt. Maybe it was the position, maybe it was the man, but either way—she was completely, utterly turned on and her sex clenched in anticipation.

“Oh, fuck.” The strangled words fell from her mouth when he slipped a finger inside her from behind. She went nearly boneless, catching herself against the headboard with one hand while still holding herself open with the other. Her legs shook and her breasts throbbed with arousal.

“Good girl,” he praised her, his fingers working in and out of her sex, before he flicked his tongue over her clit again. “Now I want you to come all over my face. Can you do that for me, baby?”

She abandoned all control and grasped a handful of his hair at the same time she ground herself against his mouth. The sweet friction of his fingers, paired with his tongue, was perfect, glorious, and just what she needed. She screamed when she fell, crashing down into oblivion and spasming against him just how he’d asked.

She allowed herself only a moment to relish in the aftermath and the satisfied smirk on his face, before sliding down his body and taking his straining shaft into her mouth. She tasted herself there and it was one of the most intimate realizations in the world to know it would be like this with him all the time now. Nothing between them, but their desire and passion for one another.

“Jesus Christ,” he growled, his hands twisting in her hair, pulling, demanding.

God, she loved this man. Loved his cock, too, so much so that she couldn’t resist stretching her mouth wide and taking him all the way to the back of her throat. She loved that he filled her with plenty to spare and when she pulled away, sucking against every retreating inch, she felt him pulse and swell even larger between her lips.

The tension in his body told her he was almost there as her tongue laved at the smooth spot beneath the thick, velvety head, making him surge upward, deeper into her mouth. She wanted him to come on her tongue again. Wanted to know that she drove him so freaking mad he couldn’t control himself.

And he gave her just that a mere two thrusts later.

“Christ, woman,” he groaned, grabbing her beneath her arms and hauling her up his body. She broke out into giggles when he squeezed her ass and let out a residual shudder. “Why are you so damn insistent on sending me to an early grave?”

“Oh, please.” She pushed up and straddled him, her fingers trailing down his chest, as she did. “You love it and you know it.”

“Damn right, I do.” He jackknifed up, the muscles in his stomach flexing. The rough slide of his hands up her back and onto her shoulders elicited goose bumps over her skin and her heart sighed a little at the happy, contented gleam in his eyes. “Thank you for that. And for last night.”

“My pleasure. Literally.” She grinned and so did he. “It’s going to be a long weekend, so hopefully it’ll tide you over.” The soft slide of his hair through her fingers had her dreading the next couple days and not being able to touch him.

“Let’s see how things go. We might be able to work something out.”

“Another sleepover?”

“Possibly.”

“Have I ever told you how fabulous your ideas are?”

“A time or two.”

“Mmm.” She leaned in to kiss his forehead and then his temple. “I’m going to cross my fingers that things go well, because I really, really liked sleeping with you.”

“You’ve
been
sleeping with me, babe.”

She shoved at his chest. “You know what I mean.”

“I do.” He grinned and pressed his lips to the center of her chest. “I make a mean omelet, you know?”

“You’re inviting me to stick around a little longer? This is getting kinda serious, hot shot,” she said, playfully garnering her courage and testing him a bit. She’d come to some pretty hefty conclusions in the last twenty-four hours and they’d be easier to accept if she knew she wasn’t standing alone in the middle of the field, all in, while he stood on the edge, reluctant or, God forbid, not interested at all in what she had in mind.

He inhaled and nodded slowly. “Yeah. It is.”

“You okay with that?”

“There’s no one else I’d rather make an omelet for.”

She quirked a crooked smile. It wasn’t a declaration of undying love, but she’d take it. “In that case, let’s hop in the shower before you get your chef on.”

***

F
letcher had been his closest friend for almost a quarter century. In those terms, hell, in any terms, it was a long-ass time. And that was going to make coming clean about his relationship with Carissa that much harder.

He didn’t have a plan in place for the inevitable discussion, but he knew it needed to happen sooner than later, given the uncertainty of the vandalism and whether or not there’d be another incident. The security system at the flip had been installed and Carissa was going over how to work it with the service tech this afternoon. He would have preferred to show her himself, but with the Fourth of July weekend underway, they had to lay low and put some space between them. But as soon as he’d laid it all out there with Fletcher, he didn’t plan on letting her leave his sight. It was the best way he knew to keep her safe.

He pulled into the lot behind River Bend High School and parked between Tony’s truck and Fletcher’s car. Both men, as well as Dan, were already on the football field, tossing the ball around.

“What the hell, dude? You yank one off before you left, or what?” Tony jogged over and jabbed him in the shoulder when he stepped onto the grass and began to stretch out, pulling his each of his cleats up behind him, one at a time.

“You know I don’t have to do that,” he muttered as he pulled his foot toward his hip, which wasn’t as easy to do as it had been even a couple years ago.

Tony chuckled and passed him the ball for a couple tosses before Dan and Fletcher made their way over to get the game started.

“You’re late,” Fletcher complained. “Busy starting another fire?”

“Fucker.” Josh drilled the ball into the man’s chest, making him wince.

His brother and Tony laughed, but Fletcher didn’t crack a smile. “You’re gonna regret that, you little punk.”

“Who you calling little?” Arms stretched wide, Josh came at his friend, playfully bumping his chest with his own and getting the smack talk underway. Fletcher might’ve had a couple inches on him, but he had the upper hand in mass and strength and his friend knew it. “You’ll be running from my tackles in no time, princess.”

“Bring it, bitch,” the other man said, giving him an impressive shove backward that made even Tony and Dan hiss in surprise.

He arched an eyebrow. “Feeling tough today, are we? We’ll see about that.”

An hour later, Josh was the one eating his words.

“What would your Marine buddies think of you now, punk?”

Laid out on the twenty-yard line, he groaned at the stabbing pain in his rib cage and squinted up against the afternoon sunshine. The only thing he could make out clearly was the smirk of the sledge hammer that loomed above him. “Why couldn’t you tackle like that in high school?”

Fletcher barked with laughter and offered a hand. “Oh, I could. But the scouts were more interested in my running game than my defense. You know that.”

Smug asshole. Begrudged, but in no position to deny the help, Josh accepted the gesture and stretched, cracking his back, as he stood. “Goddamn, I don’t remember that hurting so much.”

“You’re just getting old, dude. Remind me to take it easy on you next time.” Fletcher clapped him on the back and they both started toward the sidelines where Dan and Tony gulped down bottles of water, calling the game. Thank Christ. He’d suffered all the beating he cared for today. Didn’t stop him from prodding an elbow into his friend’s ribs for the smartass comment.

Fletcher gave him a lighthearted shoulder check. “Crazy, isn’t it? How time has flown? Remember how we used to hit the lake on the Fourth, thinking we were the shit? Pulling along coolers filled with beer we weren’t old enough to drink and skipping across the water on jet-skis like we owned the place? Trying to score with anything in a bikini?”

Hard to forget those free-spirited years. Even harder to forget how close he and Fletcher had been. How years, pride, and a woman began to change that once invincible friendship. Only Fletcher was completely naïve to it all and Josh knew the fault was all his own.
Soon
, he told himself,
he’ll know soon enough
.

“And now we just chill on the boat, hollering at the punks who make waves in the no-wake zone,” he muttered. He wasn’t proud of the fact that he’d been lying to his best friend, but he wasn’t looking forward to owning up to the truth either. At one time, he’d thought his decision to keep his history with Carissa quiet had been to protect Carissa and also Fletcher. But over the past few days it became clear that he’d done it to protect what was the most amazing connection he’d ever had with another human being. He really didn’t want to share that with anyone but her.

“We should take the jets out this weekend,” Fletcher spoke up. “For old time’s sake. Break out the swagger.”

Josh snorted. “What would Heather think of that?”

“Who cares? I’m not seeing her anymore.”

“What? You’re telling me you worked that hard for a few weeks of tail?”

His friend lifted an idle shoulder. “She’s a nice girl, but I’m not looking to go down that road. At least not with her.”

“That road being?” Josh stopped several yards short of his brother and Tony and turned toward Fletcher, his curiosity piqued.

“You know what road. Me and Heather long term? No way.”

“Why not?”

“She’s a friggin’ bartender,” Fletcher muttered, giving the ball a toss into the air.

“So?” He spread his hands wide. “What does that have to do with anything? You like her, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but, come on, man, she’s not Carissa. Not by a long shot.”

Josh’s arms fell to his sides like they weighed a thousand pounds. He cocked his head to the side and pinned his friend with a disbelieving glare. “
What?
”

“You heard me.” Fletcher lifted his chin a little too confidently for Josh’s liking. “Seeing her so much lately? It’s got me thinking I should have tried a little harder with her.”

Josh clenched his hands into hard fists, trying desperately to keep his temper in check. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I think I might test the waters again. See if she’s feeling it, too. I know she turned me down the other day, but that’s just because she doesn’t realize it would be different this time.”

There shouldn’t have been a
last time
—there definitely wouldn’t be a
this time
. Still... “How would it be different?” he asked, damn near choking on his own tongue just forming the words and momentarily playing along.

He friend hesitated. “We were more...friends with benefits before. Neither of us wanted anything serious. This time, I think I could offer her something more genuine. You know, with feelings and shit.”