The Rebel - Raleigh Ruebins Page 0,64

the center that gave way to golden brown at the edges. I could see every droplet of water on his lashes, and I shook my head in disbelief that I was here with him.

He puffed out a quiet laugh, smiling softly. “What about me?”

I blinked and it felt heavy. “Sorry. I… I’m not so good with words at the moment.”

He nodded once, turning to shut off the water.

“Wait—what about you?” I said, reaching down to run my palm along his cock.

He bit his bottom lip. “As much as I want that, and god damn I do, I think you’re only going one place right now.”

“Hell?”

Red laughed, gorgeous and deep and resonant in the echoing bathroom. “Bed.”

I took a deep, slow breath in, nodding as I felt myself blink heavily again. I wanted to protest, I wanted to get down on my knees and service Red until he came over and over again in my mouth, or all over me, or wherever the hell he wanted.

But I was fading fast. And everything was so dreamlike that I was afraid I’d say something I’d regret later.

In another moment he’d wrapped a towel around me.

“So fuzzy. So perfect,” I said, smiling as I closed my eyes in pleasure.

“You really came hard, didn’t you?” Red said, running a smaller towel through my hair.

“I can’t even express how perfect it was,” I said. “Maybe sometime when my brain is working better, I’ll show you.”

“I know you will.”

He led me to the bedroom and hung in the doorway, watching me like he was unsure how to proceed.

“I guess… I’ll…”

“Please sleep with me,” I blurted out, dropping the towel from around my waist.

He laughed again, running his hands through his hair. “I’m telling you, this is the only time a sexy-ass naked man has asked me to sleep with him and it didn’t mean we were about to fuck.”

I collapsed into the bed, the pillow already feeling like heaven on Earth.

“I just can’t be alone,” I said softly. “And I’m not allowed to say that to you, and tomorrow morning I’m going to hate myself for it. But please don’t leave, Red.”

The bed sank and shifted as he got in next to me, tucking under the covers.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered, kissing my hair. My heart felt like it was curling up in a little glowing ball right next to Red, and like he would protect it. Like he would protect me.

As I drifted to sleep I realized that everything—every single fucking thing that I’d been chasing for the last however many years—couldn’t compare to this.

I was in a tiny town that I never thought I’d be able to tolerate.

I was fucking sober, other than my intoxicating post-orgasm haze.

And I was in bed with a man I thought I’d never see again in my life.

This was better than any high I’d ever felt, and even as I was slipping quickly into dreamland, it felt more real, too. I knew Red wasn’t mine forever, but right now, I could pretend. For one small moment I let myself believe that I could have a life this good, and that I was the kind of person who deserved something that felt so much like love.

13

Red

I woke up early. Light was peeking through the cracks in the blinds, and for a moment I didn’t know where I was.

And then I remembered, bit by bit: finding Liam outside. The shower. The all-consuming need to make him feel as good as he possibly could. The memories of last night washed over me, warming my whole body before I’d even opened my eyes.

But when I turned to the side, expecting to find him snoozing like a log nearby, I blinked a few times and saw that the other side of the bed was empty.

I yawned as I walked down the short hallway, the floor cold under my bare feet.

“Hell really has frozen over,” I said as I saw him, hunched over his laptop at the kitchen table.

He looked at me, his eyes looking a little glazed over. He was wearing nothing other than a pair of neon pink boxer briefs with a kiss print pattern all over them, and a baby blue fuzzy robe hanging open on top.

I already felt my cock rise seeing him like that. The outfit looked ridiculous, but I wanted to slide my hands underneath that robe and find all of the warmth inside.

“What?” he asked, his eyes immediately fixating on my cock, which was now getting even harder.

“I’ve