Susan Mallery Page 0,123
sitting up, and smiled. “What does that mean?”
“You being beautiful? I’m pretty sure that’s self-explanatory. But it’s not just how you look. I want to be clear about that, although I will admit there are things about your body that drive me wild. It’s the rest of it. The you part. I miss that most. Sorry—I’m not making any sense.”
Too much information crammed into her head, but what really caught her attention was The you part. Being missed for herself rather than her ass was kind of a big deal.
“You’re making sense,” she said softly.
“I hope so. When you smile, when you laugh—I like that. And you with Connor. You’re good for him.”
“He’s a great kid.”
“I know. I’m lucky to have him. Anyway, I just want to be clear it’s more than just wanting to make love with you.”
Before she could react or even know how those words made her feel, he started backtracking.
“No. I’m sorry. Dammit, Sunshine. I apologize. That was wrong and I didn’t mean to go there. You must be so uncomfortable. I never meant to—”
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “Declan, it’s fine.”
He winced. “You’re very kind to say that, but I crossed the line. I blame the tequila.”
He had crossed the line and she’d let him. She’d encouraged a conversation that was dangerous. The right thing to do was to tell him they would go back to normal and pretend this never happened and then hang up. He would feel like crap for at least three days and that would make her feel guilty, but at least order would be restored.
“I think about it, too.” The words were soft, barely audible and the first step on the slick road to hell. Yet she didn’t want to turn back.
“You do?”
“Uh-huh.”
“When? How? Really?”
She laughed. “I’m not immune to normal human emotions.”
“I know but you’re...you. You could have anyone. I’m just, you know, me.”
Warmth spread through her, leaving her achy and restless. It had been a long time, she thought wistfully. Months, really, since she’d been with a man. She missed the touching, the teasing, the tension and the release. Only she didn’t just want a guy and an orgasm. She wanted Declan there with her, his hands everywhere. She wanted him naked and hard and looming over her.
As she imagined him pushing into her, she instinctively spread her legs, only there was no man. There was nothing but her rapidly swelling clit and a burning need to have him make her come. But he was a couple of thousand miles away and they were both alone.
“Sunshine?”
“Are you in bed?” she asked, unfastening her jeans and pushing them off.
“Yes, it’s late here and—” His breath caught. “You’re not asking what I think you’re asking.”
She pushed off her panties and shifted the phone to her left hand.
“Too soon?” she asked, closing her eyes.
“Not soon enough.”
She smiled and dipped her fingers inside to get wet and slippery, then circled her clit. “Are you naked?”
“I am now.”
“Good. Are you hard?”
“Pretty much if I’m talking to you, yes.”
“I’m wet and swollen. I took my panties off, but I left my shirt on. While I like a guy touching my breasts, I don’t enjoy it when I do it myself, which is strange because if I’m in the right mood and he really sucks on my nipples, I can come that way. He has to take his time, though, and most guys can’t be bothered.”
Declan swore. “You’re killing me.”
“I’m nervous. I talk when I’m nervous. I’m still touching myself and getting closer and closer, but I’m nervous.”
“Are you going to come?”
“Yes. Are you?”
“I’m a guy, Sunshine. My orgasm is the result of friction and fantasy.”
“Am I your fantasy?”
“You have no idea how much.”
“Good. You’re mine.”
He inhaled sharply. “Tell me what you’re doing. Describe it.”
“I’m using two fingers.” She closed her eyes to think about what she was doing. “Apparently I go clockwise. I never knew that.”
“Hard or soft?”
“Hard. Harder than you could do it because you’d be scared of hurting me, but I like it hard.”
“I could work on that,” he said, his voice slightly strangled. “You there yet?”
“I’m there.”
She was. The heat and need had grown until her coming was inevitable. She could hold back, she could change course, but there was a climax in her future.
“Want to come together?” he asked.
They were asking each other to trust, she thought, dipping her fingers inside again before returning to the pressing, circling movement. One of them could stop and the other would always be vulnerable.