hadn’t done yet. Now seemed like a good time to do it.
He caught my elbows before I sank to my knees. “I don’t want you…”
I broke free from his hold and shoved him onto the couch.
“…to stay,” he finished with a harsh exhale.
“Yes, you do.” I stripped off my shirt, my bra, and my remaining clothes while he watched from beneath hooded lids. He might not know what he wanted, but I knew what I wanted. To render him under my complete and utter control. To make him beg.
Before I could go down to my knees, he caught my waist and pulled me onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around my back and squeezed, his hold tight, his breath warming my exposed skin. “What are you doing to me?”
It was a question I couldn’t answer. I only knew what he was doing to me. Ruining me for all others. My inner bad girl was more than happy to turn him inside out. I’d been good for way too long.
He rested his head against my breast and we sat that way for a long while. I stroked his hair and rested my cheek on his head, just letting him hold me. And he did. Hold me. Despite all his arguing earlier that he couldn’t.
Eventually, he retrieved the blanket and made room for both of us on the couch. We fell asleep side by side, me naked, him shirtless.
Chapter Fourteen
Devlin
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d disentangled myself from a woman in the morning. Until this morning, when I woke up, my arms wrapped around Rena. We’d shared a blanket and a few sad stories last night. I felt raw and exposed now that it was morning.
She didn’t wake up when I snagged a few pain relievers from the cabinet, or when I snapped open a Gatorade from the fridge. Or when I trudged to the bathroom, palms on either side of my skull in an attempt to keep my brains from leaking out of my ears.
I’d drunk nearly an entire bottle of bourbon—thanks to Rena I didn’t finish it.
God, I was an idiot.
Under the hottest water I could tolerate, I tipped my head back and let the spray wash over me. At least my stomach had settled some. I picked up the Gatorade I’d carried in with me and downed a few more gulps.
I was no stranger to bourbon, but I didn’t typically lose myself in the bottle. I guess finding out I had a brother, and that my childhood had been peppered with lies, was the tipping point.
I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair, my tight muscles just now starting to relax. When I opened my eyes, two wide brown eyes were peeking through a gap in the shower curtain. Rena’s gaze slid down my chest, to my stomach, and lower. She grinned.
Memories of last night came back to me in disjointed pieces. I remembered I’d been pissed, that I’d told her to leave, that she didn’t. I was glad she didn’t. Weird as it was to have her here, it was nice, too.
“Come to laugh at the hungover guy?” My voice was tight and craggy.
“I came to join him.” She parted the curtain further, and I saw she was wearing a towel.
I shoved the curtain aside and held out a hand. Then my eyes bugged out when she dropped the towel and exposed her beautiful body.
“I will never get tired of seeing you naked,” I admitted as she stepped into the tub. My eyes ate up her curves and lines. The perky, upturned breasts, the subtle dip of her waist, and the full flare of her hips.
My hands went into her hair and I kissed her, tasting coffee and something I wasn’t as familiar with. Hope.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she warned.
“Like what?” I cupped those perky breasts and thumbed her nipples.
“Like you’re afraid of being close to me.” She wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed her body against mine. Water trickled between her breasts and down my belly. “When really, you can’t resist me.”
Damn. She was right.
In another flashback of What the Hell Happened Last Night, I recalled Melinda saying something about Rena falling for me and me freaking out. Much as I’d have liked to blow off anything that came out of Melinda’s mouth, she had a point.
Everyone in my past who’d “loved” me had bailed. Mom, Dad, and now Paul. Next up, Sonny. Once he found out what I’d done to