The Moth and the Flame (When Rivals Play #2) - B.B. Reid Page 0,71
her bed and began making my pallet on the floor. When I turn back for the pillow that I’d come to think of as mine, I found her on her back watching me with her legs wrapped around the pillow and her cunt pressed against the pillowcase.
It was a trap only a fool would fall for.
Sighing, I took a step toward the bed as she fought another smile. I was struck, and for a moment, I wondered if I’d still be considered a fool if I fell for it willingly. Only the sight of her blushing prettily brought me hurtling back to reality. Reaching down, I yanked free the pillow her head was resting on. Her head bounced off the mattress, and I laughed when she was momentarily dazed.
“That’s mine!” she protested as she sat up in bed.
Shrugging, I tossed her pillow on the floor. “You seem to like the one you’re riding, so by all means, have at it.”
“You can have it back,” she whined.
“No thanks. You keep it.” Her scent was probably all over it by now, so there was no way I’d get any sleep and, frankly, neither would she. There’s only so much a man can resist before taking what was so brazenly offered to him.
“I don’t understand why you sleep on the floor anyway. There’s plenty of room up here with me.”
I lifted my shirt over my head and let it fall to the floor. “It’s a twin bed, Lou.”
“Then I guess you’d have to hold me.”
I took a deep breath, but it wasn’t enough. My control began to splinter right down the middle. Turning to face her, I saw Lou had abandoned the pillow and was now kneeling on the bed, her taut belly visible thanks to the crop top, and I could tell she wasn’t wearing a bra because the top was so sheer I could see her dark nipples peeking through. And her frilly panties… God, those fucking panties. My cock rose as swiftly as my anger. Fortunately, for me, anger won.
“I won’t be doing that now or ever, Lou.” My eyes narrowed to slits when she attempted to step from the bed. “Do we understand each other?” My tone quickly had her rethinking her next move, and she was back to kneeling.
I watched as her sexy as fuck lips parted, and her eyes quickly filled with tears I knew she’d never let herself shed. A second later, she dropped onto the mattress and turned her back to me.
I stood there for a moment longer watching her, but she didn’t make a sound or move a muscle. Tiptoeing over to the bed on silent feet, I grabbed the sheet at the foot of the bed, and she stiffened when I covered her with it.
“You’re a coward,” she said through clenched teeth. Her body trembled with the exertion it took not to cry.
“No, Lou. I just know I’ll never be the man you deserve. One day, you’ll see it, too.”
It was hard not to crawl into her bed and soothe her the way I knew she wanted. She didn’t respond, and I told myself it wouldn’t have mattered. Nothing she did or said would make me touch her. She was too young, and I was too damaged.
My jaw clenched, and I wanted to punch a hole in the headboard when blood rushed to my dick anyway. I scoffed and finally walked away. As I dropped onto my pallet, I realized I had only myself to blame.
Lou was spoiled as fuck.
A monster of my own making.
My cock nearly burst through my jeans at the thought of corrupting her more.
“Did you find him?” she said in a small voice after a silence that lasted too long. I knew she wasn’t asleep. We’d never been able to sleep much at all when we were upset with the other. Small talk was always her way of reaching out to me.
“Find who?”
“Danny Boy. I know he’s what kept you away.”
“I found him.”
“Did you hurt him?” I heard the hitch in her voice and hated the thought of her losing faith in me even though I wished she would. Eventually, I’d disappoint her once and for all.
“I didn’t hurt him.”
“Why not?”
“Because—” I stopped short, not wanting to speak the truth out loud even though I felt it in what remained of my heart. I listened to her shift and knew when her gaze found me in the dark. I could feel her wrapping me in her cocoon.