Fix It Up - Mary Calmes Page 0,82
said, leaning over to kiss his brow.
The purr of contentment was not to be missed.
“Shit,” I grumbled, leaning back, ready to roll away.
His hand on my face stopped me.
“Until we get back to Santa Barbara, I need you to pretend that you’re mine.”
I tried to laugh, or do anything at all, but my mouth was suddenly dry and there was a lump in my throat.
“Just,” he sighed, easing me down beside him, sliding his hand into my damp hair. “Be all in. Belong to me until we get home.”
“And when I go, you’ll stick with everything? You’ll drink only in moderation, stay drug-free, eat right, exercise, do everything you’re doing now?”
“I promise,” he said, and the hopeful smile I got as he stared at me made my heart hurt. “Is it a deal?”
I sighed deeply. “Okay.”
“Good,” he said, rolling to his side. “Now, kiss me like you want me.”
“Listen to me,” I said firmly, lying down, facing him. “This, us, physically—only a monk could say no to you.”
Slow, lazy grin.
“Maybe,” I amended, because the man was temptation incarnate.
“You want me bad.”
“Yeah, I do, so what? I don’t care if you know that,” I griped at him. “Every part of you is gorgeous, and of course I want you. I just don’t think it’s right for you to settle when you have the whole damn world at your feet.”
His gaze didn’t leave me.
“Do you understand?” I pressed him, slipping my hand around his neck and holding tight so he had to meet my gaze. “You’ve had some horrible shit happen to you, and now you’re in a brand-new place, and you’re clean and healthy and ready to start this amazing new chapter in your life,” I said, my eyes filling for whatever stupid reason as all my hopes for him swelled in my chest. “And I want the best, the very best man, or woman, or person you decide on, and I don’t want to be in the way when you cross paths with that particular human being. It would fuckin’ kill me to know that I kept you from your happily ever after.”
He nodded. “And it would break your heart if you fell madly in love with me and then I tossed you aside.”
I shrugged and nodded.
“I get that,” he agreed, scooting closer, slipping his hand over the curve of my hip. “I do, and the fact that you care about my happiness that much says everything about the kind of man you are. But really, Loc, if you think about it, a man who wants only the very best for me, isn’t that the exact person I need?”
“You’re not listening to me,” I said gruffly. “I’m you’re fixer, and as such, I––”
“I want the kissing now,” he said, cutting me off, taking my mouth, kissing me again, taking his time, exploring, rubbing his tongue lazily over mine, chewing on my bottom lip, and finally lifting up, which was when I realized I was flat on my back. “Did I hurt you in the garden?”
I shoved him off me and rolled to my side, not wanting him to see the blush I knew was there because I could feel the heat on my face. “No, you didn’t hurt me. Why the hell would you think you hurt me?”
“It was hard,” he said, spooning behind me, my ass pressed to his groin. “And I got lost a bit in the middle because having control of you, and knowing how powerful and strong you are, and just being inside of you I—it was a rush.”
“Well, you didn’t hurt me,” I husked, shivering when his hand slid down to the knot in the towel. “I would never let you hurt me.”
“That’s what I was counting on,” he said, his breath warm in my ear. “I’ve had other people in my bed, and I wanted to be…rough, but I was always afraid of hurting them. I didn’t want to do that; I didn’t want to make that mistake with you.”
“Of course,” I agreed, lifting up off the bed so he could pull away the towel that he’d loosened, swallowing hard, trying to calm my racing pulse.
“I’ve tied people up,” he said, and I heard the pop of a cap and knew he’d pulled lube from somewhere, perhaps under his pillow. “I grew up on a horse farm. I can tie a knot, right?”
“Sure,” I agreed, catching my breath as one lubed finger slid between my cheeks, and curled forward. Already my cock was hardening