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He felt his muscles clench and his gut burned at the thought
of the men she’d
been with,
so
impatient,
so
uncaring
that
they
hadn’t
had
the
decency
to
make
sure
she
was ready. He squeezed his eyes tightly
closed. Man, who was he kidding? His gut
burned
at the thought of any other guy touching her,
period.

He
hadn’t
wanted
to
watch
her
walk,
it
was
that
simple.
She’d
more
than
lived
up
to
every
fantasy
he’d
ever
had
and
he
hadn’t
been
able
to
bear
seeing
her
walk
away from him.
Because
she
would.

He took a deep breath. She’d said one night. It wasn’t even
close to over, yet here he was like a moron, trying to get his fucking emotions
under control. Jesus, despite what he’d told himself there had been some
ridiculous thread of hope that she’d feel something apart from the sex, maybe
want something beyond it,
want
him beyond that.

He was about to shut the water off,
try
to salvage what he could, when he saw
her.
She
was
wearing
his
shirt
and
he’d
bet
she
had
nothing
under
it.
Actually
he
knew
it. Hot, sexy,
naked
.
And still
here.

“Are
you
okay?”

His
body
stiffened
at
her
soft
voice,
especially
when
she
glanced
down
his
body, even though
that
was already
plenty
stiff.

He’d
gotten
more
than
a
little
rough
at
the
end.
Her
hair
was
a
little
messed,
her face
pale
and
she
was
clutching
the
shirt
around
her
like
a
shield.
He
should
have thought to check on her, he should
have been the one to make sure
she
was
okay.

He
cleared his throat.
“Yeah…you?”

She
nodded.

One
night, he reminded
himself.

“So,
why don’t you lose the shirt and get in here with
me?”

His
mouth
went
dry
when
she
released
her
grip
on
the
edge
of
the
shirt.
No
one
said he couldn’t make it count,
right?

Lanie
was
having
trouble
breathing
and
she
didn’t
think
it
was
going
to
improve
anytime
soon.
He
stood
under
the
spray,
all
hard,
wet
muscles
and
slippery,
smooth skin.
He
was
lean
but
powerful
with
some
interesting
dips
and
curves
she’d
love
to explore—with her lips, her open mouth,
her
tongue. And his cock, her gaze kept coming back to it.
The swollen, well-used flesh between her legs heated as she
thought of
him
inside
her
and
how
it’d
felt
and
how
much
she
wanted
him
to
do
it
again,
over
and
over.

He
wasn’t done with her. He didn’t look disappointed.
In
fact…

She
forced
herself
to
shrug
his
shirt
off
her
shoulders.
It
smelled
like
him
and
now
she
smelled
like
him.
She
gloried
in
it.
She
was
glad
she’d
dredged
the
courage
from somewhere when his jaw clenched and
gray heat tracked over her, inch by slow
inch.

“There’s just one thing,” she murmured as she stepped into
the shower, gasping
at how hot he had
the
water.

“Yeah?”

It
took awhile, but she waited until his eyes lifted to
hers.

“I get to touch, kiss,
lick
.” Her
voice dropped, as did her gaze. He may
have
thickened even more. “And
suck.”

“
Lanie
,”
he
groaned.
He
picked
up
a
bottle,
squirted
some
bath
gel
into
his
palm
and
lathered it roughly in his hands before he began to slide wet, soapy hands over
her, up
and
down
her
back,
her
shoulders,
and
forward,
across
her
breasts.
His
features were
set
in
harsh
lines
of
concentration,
but
he
didn’t
linger
anywhere.
She
bit
back
a
moan when he merely skimmed her nipples, dipped quickly between her legs and
over the curves of her
ass.

She
reached
out
to
lay
a
hand
low
on
his
abdomen,
her
fingers
itching
to
make contact
with
his
skin,
to
reciprocate
in
some
way,
but
he
grabbed
her
wrist
when
she
would have caressed
him.

“You have no idea how bad I want it, how much I need it—your
hands on me,
your mouth.”

“But?”

“Not
yet. I can’t— I won’t be able to— Christ, we need to get out of here.
Now.”

He
shut
off
the
water,
herded
her
out
of
the
shower
and
wrapped
her
in
a
thick
towel. He rubbed her dry, carefully, thoroughly,
then
swiped the towel roughly
across his own
body before turning to
her.

She wanted to press herself against his hardness, to feel him
along every inch of
her and
she
stepped
to
him.
She
couldn’t
miss
his
harshly
indrawn
breath
when
his
hands settled on her hips, as if to stop
her.

“When
are you going to let me touch you?” she
whispered.

His
hands
clenched
on
her
hips.
“When
I’m
not
likely
to
come
from
the
mere thought of your mouth on
me.”

He
lowered
his
head,
his
mouth
taking
hers
in
a
kiss
that
scorched
a
trail
of
fire
through
her
body,
from
her
abdomen
down
to
explode
anew
between
her
legs.
His tongue
licked
against
hers,
thrust
in
and
out
in
a
rhythm
that
had
her
trembling
and
gasping
in seconds. She still felt swollen, sensitive and wet, so wet.
For
him.

“Wrap
your legs around me,” he
urged.

“
Rex.
”

“I’ve
got
you.”

He
lifted
her
with
hard
hands
under
her
thighs.
Lanie
gasped,
her
legs
ended
up
around his waist, her arms tight across his hard
shoulders.

She
kissed
his
neck,
all
she
could
reach,
all
he’d
allow
her
and
opened
her
mouth against him, licked his skin,
sucked on it, glorying in the fingers that clenched hard
into her
skin.

“Bed.
On the bed…on top this time,” he bit
out.

Rex
took
her
down
with
him
to
the
bed
and
suddenly
she
was
sprawled
over
his chest, his cock pressing up
insistently against her, nudging between her
legs.

“
Rubber,
”
he muttered. “I need a rubber.
Bedside—”

Lanie
reached
over
and
grabbed
for
the
packet
before
he
could
sit
up.
She’d
be
damned if he’d take this from
her.

He watched her open it, his jaw clenched tight, a pulse
throbbing in his temple.
She smiled.

“
Lanie
.”
The warning groan sounded
as if it was torn from
him.

Her
smile
slipped
when
she
clasped
her
hand
around
him,
so
hot,
so
hard
and
his
entire
body
went
rigid.
Her
hands
shook
as
she
sheathed
him
and
by
the
time
she
was finished, he wasn’t the only one damp
with sweat and breathing
hard.

She
needed
him,
deep
this
time,
as
far
as
he
could
go.
And
she
was
going
to
make
sure
of
it.
She
lifted
herself,
closed
her
eyes
briefly
at
the
blunt
feel
of
him
against
her and began to ease
down.

“
Wait,
”
he snarled, stopping her with hard hands, holding her
immobile.

“No.”
She gritted her teeth. “I’m ready, Rex, I’m ready.
Please.
”

“Just…easy,
okay?”

Oh God, if he hadn’t already been able to make her melt, that
was it. Who else
had ever been so
careful of her, so mindful of her pleasure, her well being? She could see
the lust
etched
into
his
features,
the
need
he
was
making
no
effort
to
conceal
and
still
he thought of
her.

She moved, up and down, a little awkward at first, lowering
her weight more
fully
onto
him
each
time
as
she
slowly
impaled
herself
on
his
thickness.
She
could
barely
keep her eyes open, struggling to breathe
at the feel of him stretching her. His big
hands
still
caged
her
hips,
but
he
let
her
set
the
pace.
And
then
he
was
deep
inside,
as
far
as
she could take him, hot and hard as he filled
her.

“Okay?”

The word was barely audible, spoken through his clenched
teeth as she spread
her fingers over
the thick pads of muscle on his
chest.

“Oh
yeah,” she managed. It was way more than
okay.

Pleasure speared from between her legs as she began to move
on him, the
sensation sweet
and
intense.
Her
breath
came
in
gasping
pants
as
he
kept
his
body
perfectly
in
synch with hers,
urging her
on.

She
kept
her
eyes
open,
looking
directly
down
into
his
blazing
gaze.
She
was
used
to
closing
them
to
block
out
everything
around
her
so
that
she
could
concentrate,
to fantasize, to make sure she was able to send herself over.
But he was right there,
under her,
in
her,
with
her,
and
there
was
no
need
to
focus.
She
wouldn’t
have
been
able
to
think about anything but him
anyway.

“Sit
up a little,” he
rasped,
his voice low and
rough.

“Oh…”
She
threw
back
her
head
and
a
ragged
moan
was
torn
from
her
when
he
took
a
nipple
into
his
mouth,
sucking
strongly,
flicking
it
with
his
tongue,
scraping gently with his
teeth.

Her
husband
had
always
accused
her
of
being
uptight
and
too
reserved
in
bed,
unwilling to try anything new, anything remotely adventurous.
Right then and
there she knew with
Rex she’d probably let him do whatever he wanted to her. Anything
and
everything,
no questions
asked.

One rough hand skimmed across her hip, over the curve of her
buttocks
and between her legs. She
gasped as he caressed flesh stretched tight around him,
drawing the moisture from where they were joined, back up
between the cheeks of her
ass.

“You
like
this?”

A hard finger spread her moisture, circled her, rubbed at the
puckered entrance
and she jerked at
the
contact.

“I—Oh
God
.”

“No
one’s ever done that
before?”

More
like she never would have let anyone else. She trembled.
Yeah…anything.

His body didn’t pause in its rhythm and despite her being on
top,
Rex
was
suddenly
the
aggressor,
clasping
her
hip
with
one
hard
hand
while
he
controlled
their movements.
He
played
at
the
opening,
teasing
her,
dipping
his
fingertip
in
ever
so shallowly each time he surged up against
her.

“I’m
close,
Lanie
.
So fucking close.
Again.
You?”

“Yes.”
She
trembled
as
he
moved
in
and
out
of
her
in
an
even,
forceful
glide
that
created
a
scorching
tingle
from
her
toes
to
her
scalp,
radiating
from
the
flesh
stretched taut
between her legs.
“
Yes.
”

He
moved
to
her
other
breast
and
she
was
there—right
there—balanced
on
the
brink
of another explosive release, could feel it simmering, building, expanding,
needing
something, anything to send her
over.

His finger breached her as she came. She cried out, moving in
perfect counterpart
to his deep,
heavy thrusts and then she was lost, a slave to sensation, all over
again.

He
wasn’t
surprised
when
he
hardened
at
the
sight
of
her
sprawled
in
the
bed,
his
bed.
She
was
lying
on
her
stomach,
smooth,
creamy
limbs
spread
out
over
more
than
her fair share of the space, her dark hair tangled around her head. The sheet
was
draped down around her thighs giving
him an eye-popping, heart-wrenching view of
her smooth back and the firm, curvy cheeks of her ass. He wasn’t
surprised at the jolt he
felt
low
in
his
stomach
as
she
moved
slightly
in
sleep,
raising
her
leg
just
a
little
more, giving him a teasing glimpse at the shadowed crease between. What
surprised him
was the burning ache he
felt in his
chest.

She
rolled
over
onto
her
back
with
a
soft
murmur
and
raised
an
arm
above
her
head.

He
groaned
to
himself.
He’d
had
her
under
him,
been
buried
deep
inside
her
and he’d
fucked
her
until
he’d
been
aware
of
nothing,
not
even
his
own
name.
Yet
he
still
wanted her. His standard MO said it would have been enough, more than, but it
wasn’t even
close.
The
thing
of
it
was,
deep
down
he’d
known,
he’d
probably
always
known,
that
sex
with
Lanie
wouldn’t
be
like
it
was
with
anyone
else.
Even
as
a
teen
he’d
felt
different,
been
different
around
her.
And
he’d
always
wanted
to
be
better,
more.
All because of
her.

Before he’d thought better of it, he grabbed his phone and snapped
a quick
picture. He winced at the
click of sound, unnaturally loud in the hushed silence of the room.
She stirred.

Shit.

Her eyes opened. He knew the exact instant she knew what he’d
done.
She
scrambled
into
a
sitting
position,
pushing
the
hair
off
her
face,
her
eyes
wide
as
she stared at
him.

“
Lanie
, it’s not what it looks
like.”

Yeah,
even he wouldn’t have been convinced by that lame-ass
comment.

She
dragged the sheet up to cover herself. He hated that she’d hidden herself
from him, as much as he hated the look
that turned from confusion to
wariness.

Great.
She thought he was a
pervert.

“Well,
it
looks
like
you
took
a
picture
of
me
while
I
was
sleeping,”
she
said,
her voice
husky,
unsure.
“A-A
naked
picture.
I’ll
be
more
than
pissed
if
it
ends
up
on
the internet.”

Except she didn’t look pissed.
She looked kind of
hurt.

Dammit
.

“It’s
nothing. I swear.
See?”

He
thrust the phone toward her, showing her the close-up he’d snapped of her
face. “Okay.” She frowned and then
looked back up at him.
“Why?”

He
looked
down
at
the
picture.
He
couldn’t
meet
her
eyes.
How
could
he?
How
could
he
explain
that
he’d
just
wanted
to
capture
her
in
that
moment,
when
she’d
looked
so
beautiful
after
being
pleasured
so
well?
By
him.
Was
it
such
a
big
deal
that he’d
wanted
something
to
remind
himself
that
he’d
put
that
look
there,
that
he’d
been
the
one
to
pleasure
her
so
thoroughly?
Because
he
had.
His
hands
still
trembled
when he
thought
about
her
response,
so
open,
so
honest
and
all
his.
He
shook
his
head. Christ, how could he be moved and
horny all at the same
time?

He
cleared his throat. It was time. “I have a confession to make,” he said
instead.

Lanie
felt the ice wash through her. In an instant she’d
gone from the warm buzz
of great sex
to just…cold. “You’re
married.”

His
eyes
narrowed.
“Jesus,
do
you
really
think
I’d
be
here
if
I
was,
that
I’d
be
here with you like
this?”

She
shrugged.
Being
married
didn’t
stop
a
lot
of
guys.
It
hadn’t
stopped
her
ex.
In
fact, the jerk thought after a couple years of marriage it was sort of
expected,
had wondered what she got
so bent out of shape about. She sighed. Damn. She’d
promised herself over and over she wouldn’t compare other guys
to him. Perhaps it was
a character
flaw
because
she
still
compared
every
potential
more-than-a-friend
guy
to Rex. He’d
pulled on a pair of jeans and nothing else, not even bothering to button
them all
the
way.
She
swallowed
at
the
sharp
tug,
low
down
in
her
abdomen.
And
now?
After all this?
Maybe she always
would.

He was lean and hard, his smooth skin would be hot to the
touch and she wanted
to touch
him.
Bad.
So
bad.
What
had
happened
to
getting
him
out
of
her
system?
To knowing
once
and
for
all
what
she’d
thought
about,
fantasized
about
all
this
time?
To proving it couldn’t be as good as she’d
always imagined? She was ruined,
totally,
completely. She’d
ruined
herself for any and every other guy. Now
what?

She swallowed at the sting at the back of her throat. She couldn’t
deal with this.
She thought
she
could
be
a
grown-up
and
handle
some
long-overdue
sex
with
a
guy
she’d thought about more times than she
could count, to put it behind her once and for
all— but she couldn’t. She couldn’t just shrug it off and she’d just
made it worse. What a
time to find
out she wasn’t the casual, no-strings-attached-sex
type.

Okay,
one
thing
at
a
time.
If
she
could
just
get
out
of
here
before
she
made
a blundering, blubbering idiot of
herself, even more than she already had, maybe it’d
be all
right.

Lanie
gritted
her
teeth,
tried
to
forget
she
didn’t
have
a
stitch
on
and
got
up.
He’d
seen and touched pretty much every inch of her anyway. It wasn’t a biggie.
Right?

“
Lanie
…”

She
ignored
him,
or
tried
to.
She
yanked
her
dress
up
from
the
floor
and
stepped into it, dragging it up over her
hips. She tied it in some semblance of a knot, prayed
it’d hold and grabbed her
purse.

She hadn’t mentioned it to Rex, but she was staying in this
hotel, only had to go
two floors.
Hopefully
she
wouldn’t
run
into
anyone,
especially
anyone
from
the
reunion. Wouldn’t that be the icing on a
cake that had suddenly crumbled to
pieces?

“Um…thanks,
okay?”
she
managed
in
his
general
direction
as
she
reached
for
the
door.

She’d
barely
opened
it
an
inch
before
a
big
hand
reached
out
from
behind
her
and
slammed
it
closed
again
with
a
resounding
shot
of
sound.
Rex
stood
at
her
back,
not
touching,
but close enough that she could feel the heat washing over her from his
body. Tension vibrated from him. His hand lay
flat against the door right in her line of
sight.

“
Lanie
,”
he
forced
out.
“The
only
reason
I
even
came
to
this
fucking
reunion
was for this.
For
you
.
Do you really
think I’d ever want to take a trip down the memory
lane of my screwed-up childhood just for the fun of
it?”

She
let out a shuddering breath.
“Rex—”

“Do
you
remember
that
night
I
found
you?”
His
voice
lowered.
“Out
by
the
old factory?”

“I-I remember.” Of course she did. How could she not? It had been
near the end
of school, a year
before graduation. She’d been out on a date with a college freshman
and they’d
had
a
fight.
He’d
driven
to
the
remote
spot
with
the
sole
intent
of
them
having
sex in the backseat of his car. She’d flat out refused and he’d gotten angry.
She’d slammed
out
of
the
car
and
he’d
driven
off,
stranding
her.
Jeez,
seems
her
bad
choices
relating to men had started all the way back in high school. Just as she’d been
trying
to figure out what to do Rex
had come along on his rusty, beaten-up bike. He’d taken
her home.

“I
always wondered how you just happened to be
there.”

“I
slept out there sometimes. It was
quiet.”

She’d known about his family situation. Everyone had and
they’d all turned a
blind eye.

She
felt
his
warm
breath
on
the
back
of
her
neck
as
he
sighed.
“How
I
wanted
to kiss you
that night, really kiss you. You hugged me, do you remember? It was the
first time
I
could
remember
someone
putting
their
arms
around
me
and
holding
me,
just holding
me.”

“Oh,
Rex.”

“I
had
nothing,
I
was
nothing,
but
it
didn’t
stop
me
from
wanting
it
so
bad,
from
wanting
you
so bad. You smelled so
sweet and clean
and…”

She
turned
around
then,
pressing
her
back
up
against
the
hard
surface.
Both
of
his
hands
were
flat
against
the
door
by
her
head,
caging
her
in,
enveloping
her
in
his
nearness.
His eyes were shadowed but locked steady on
hers.

She
licked her lips. “
You
had a thing for
me
?” she
whispered.

His
gaze blazed as it traced over her face, resting on her mouth.
“A thing.
Yeah.”

“You
never said
anything.”

His
gaze collided with hers. “Neither did
you.”

“What?
How did you
know?”

“I
saw the way you looked at me that night. It would have been hard to
miss.”

It
hadn’t
just
been
that
night.
It
had
just
been
the
first
time
she’d
ever
been
really close to him. She’d only ever
watched him from a distance, when he’d been unaware
of it.
When no one had been.
He’d
helped her up onto the handlebars of his pushbike
and
had
ridden
them
back
to
her
place.
It
had
taken
over
an
hour
on
the
old,
broken-down
bike. He’d never said anything, done
anything, except be a perfect gentleman. Her
date
had been two years older than her and the son of the mayor. The irony hadn’t
been
lost on her.

“I
never did anything about it. I’m
sorry.”

“And how would that have worked out do you
think?”

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Why hadn’t it occurred to her
before? “You’re the one
who beat
him
up.
He
couldn’t
leave
to
go
back
to
school
for
over
a
week.
He
never
did
say
who it
was.”

“He deserved it.” Rex’s mouth
tightened,
the look in his eyes hardened.
“That
and
more.
Christ,
Lanie
, he left you out there—
alone
—and
he wasn’t coming
back.”

“Oh,
Rex…”
He’d
been
her
savior
and
her
champion
and
she’d
never
even
known
it. “You disappeared after
that.”

“Yeah.
Being expelled didn’t quite turn out like I
expected.”

“Oh
God, I’m so sorry, really
I—”

“Look at me,
Lanie
.” He spread his
arms wide, the muscles of his biceps
bunching,
sliding
under
his
skin.
“I
didn’t
end
up
in
jail,
although
it
was
a
near
thing.
I
have
a
business now, enough money to buy pretty much anything I want, and women…
Yeah, plenty of women
these days.
If I want them.
It turned out
okay.”

She
didn’t
much
want
to
think
about
the
women
but
she
did
want
to
ask
him
for
the
details,
to
know
everything
about
what
he’d
done,
how
he’d
survived
because whatever
had
happened
to
him,
whichever
path
he’d
taken,
the
neglected
kid
and
troubled teen he’d been seemed to have been left far behind. And she was glad,
fiercely glad.

“Still…”

He
lowered his arms slowly. “I’ve let it go, most of it
anyway.”

“So,
why didn’t you?” she whispered. “Kiss me that night, I
mean?”