hesitation, but then he looked stricken. “No. I shouldn’t.”
A sobering thought hit me like cold water. “You have a girlfriend.”
“What?” He froze. “No, no.” He let out a tight, embarrassed sigh. “If I touch you, shit’s going to . . . escalate.”
Relief washed through and disarmed me. His phrasing was almost amusing. “Escalate?”
His pointed look was stern and provocative. “Yeah, Ms. Graham.” When he repeated the word, he drew it out, weighting each syllable. “Escalate.”
“It’s Erika.” It was too formal and impersonal for him to use my last name, given what we were doing. Plus, it was a bit too much like The Graduate, even if I had seduced him into doing this. “Are you worried I won’t be able to handle you?”
“No.” He was perfectly serious. “I’m worried I won’t be able to handle you.” His gaze dropped down to his dick clenched in his hand. “Look at me. I haven’t fucking touched you, and I’m already close.”
My excitement ratcheted up to a new level. “Are you going to come?” I was breathless. “Right now, in front of me?”
He shuddered through the powerful effect my words had on him, and his dick jerked under his grip. “Do you want me to?”
I hadn’t thought about it until this very moment, and suddenly, I was desperate for it. If we didn’t touch, what we were doing felt “safe.” We’d walk right up to the edge of danger, but not cross over, and I hungered to see him lose control in my presence.
Need choked my throat, making it hard to speak, so I nodded quickly.
This time, when his hand resumed moving, it was faster, and a determined, focused look settled in his eyes. Did he feel like he was on stage, performing for me? If so, he didn’t seem uncomfortable.
Not even a little.
He put his free hand on one of the treads of the stairs, as if preparing and needing something to hold onto. When he pumped his fist, his hips moved in time. The subtle gyrations ripped me open and poured more heat inside me. I wanted him to move like that against me, in either my hand, or in my mouth, or inside my body. It was pornographic how he swayed and rolled. A private show for me that was so lewd I could barely blink, not wanting to miss any of it.
His grasp was firm and tight because the skin around his grip moved up and down with him, making the head of his cock disappear as he focused on the tip. Short, heavy breaths worked loose from his lungs, and it was difficult to tell which he enjoyed more: jerking himself off or looking at me.
He’d been using one hand this whole time, and maybe it’d gotten tired or strained, because he ringed himself at the base, and his other hand came off the stair step to take over.
Wait, no. He cupped his hand, then tipped his head forward, and I watched as a bead of saliva trailed from his lips down into his palm.
“Yes,” I encouraged. “Get it wet.”
Holy shit. How many margaritas had I had? I’d never said anything like that before, and the abrupt dirty talk from my lips was startling.
But Troy? He very much approved of it. He shuddered as his fresh, damp hand took over, and the fatigued one massaged lower. God, it was sensual the way he touched and rubbed himself, as if enjoying it as much as I did.
“Fuck,” he groaned in satisfaction. “I want to see all of you.”
His gaze dropped to the only thing left on my body, the peach bikini bottom, and air whooshed out of me. Wasn’t it silly to be bashful about this? And a little unfair, since he was completely naked and had followed every order I’d given him?
He wasn’t sure how to interpret my hesitation, so his voice went husky. “You want me to come over there and help you?”
“Yes,” I breathed. “And no, because if you touch me . . . I don’t know what will happen.”
His sexy pace slowed a little and confusion pulled his eyebrows together.
It forced me to continue. “I haven’t had sex in a long time. You don’t want to get within striking distance of me.”
God, his amused grin made my bones melt. “Like you’re dangerous, Erika.”
Hearing my name in his seductive voice made all the moisture in my body rush to the center of my legs. I meant for it to sound sultry, but I faltered. “Just thinking