Left for Wild - Harloe Rae Page 0,55
region.
Without leaving the loop of my hold, she turns to face me. She’s rumpled and wrinkled and all mine. For another moment, at least. “Sorry about that.”
“I’m much better now.”
“This kind of behavior isn’t typical for me,” she whispers.
“Does that make me a special case?”
She snorts. “Well, duh. That should be obvious without the lap dance.”
My bark of laughter cracks through the silence. If that’s her idea of a lap dance, I hope she never enters a strip club. “I’m not privy to your dating history. Not that I want to be.”
“It doesn’t involve any of that, or much of anything, to be honest.”
“Yeah, sure.” Her explanation smells worse than a crock of shit, considering Blakely is a total knockout. I’m sure the spike in my timbre is an obvious hint. But this shouldn’t be a common reaction to her. Any man with decent vision will be rubbernecking while she’s nearby. Much to my displeasure, the guards at Streebston always made lewd comments when she’d come around.
“You don’t believe me?” Several grooves dent her forehead.
Is she kidding? “I’m picturing guys falling over themselves for a chance with you.”
Her smile is brittle. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. Not that I really put myself out there to be available. I’m too invested in my career.”
“Wanting to be established isn’t a bad thing.”
Blakely drops her gaze from mine. “It is when I didn’t make space for anything else. I was out to prove my mother wrong. Being independent. Putting myself in dangerous situations, according to her standards. Living alone. I guess she was right to be worried.”
I pull a few brunette strands from her lashes. “This couldn’t be avoided, whether we were careful or not.”
“My mom would disagree. I’m here because I was being risky and not tucked away in her house. She’d prefer to keep me under a constant watchful eye.”
Foul sludge sloshes in my gut. “That’s no way to live. Trust me, I’ve been there.”
Blakely’s gaze scans our forest surroundings. “And this is an entirely different reality altogether.”
“Beats prison.”
“Pretty sure anything is a vast improvement after that.”
“Because of you.” I press a kiss to a rosy splotch on her throat. “So, dating a bad boy wasn’t on your list of ways to be rebellious?”
“Ha, very funny. I’ve been safe in that respect. But I’m not a virgin,” she blurts that last part. Blakely buries her face in the blanket. “And now I’m mortified. Again.”
“Seriously?” I tug the fabric down. She nods, keeping her eyes averted. I prod again with a murmur. “Why?”
She blinks at me, stretching the quiet for a beat too long. “It’s a proximity hazard with you. The most embarrassing stuff tumbles from my mouth without warning. Maybe I’m too captivated by your whimsical prowess.”
“Is that a thing?”
“With you?” The agreeable noise Blakely emits is seductive as fuck. “Big time. It’s a magnetic draw or some deeply meaningful explanation I can’t think of without a pot of coffee first.”
I nod along with her words, appreciating the direction of this conversation. “I feel the same way about you, Blakely. There’s nothing to ever be embarrassed about. I’m right there with you, along for this crazy ride.”
“You’re only saying that because I’ve become intimately acquainted with a certain part of you that probably holds a large deciding factor.”
My cock does seem to have a mind of its own where she’s concerned. Speaking of, the fucker is still hard and prodding at her thigh. I scoot backward in an attempt to cool the engines that are revving again.
Blakely cringes at my subtle movements. “I’m really sorry.”
“Hey.” I cradle her jaw in my palm, attempting to offer comfort without sounding too pacifying. “I don’t mind, okay? Having you snuggling against me is the furthest thing from a punishment. Well, in most circumstances.”
“Ugh, I’m the worst cuddle buddy ever. You even warned me last night. Are you in pain?”
“Nah, I’ll survive.” But I’d give just about anything to adjust my throbbing junk without her noticing.
She glances behind her, catching the rising sun streaking through the trees. “Should we get up?”
Already am, sweetheart. But there’s not a chance in hell I’d return to that topic with no possibility for relief. “Probably not a bad idea to get started with our day.”
I wrestle myself from the confines of our bedding, rolling to a wobbling standstill. Clarity seeps in once a bit of the lust clears from my brain. Regardless of the desire pounding into me, my body is refreshed. Rewinding the past several hours,