Chapter Three

She expected him to backpedal. Maybe even laugh, because he didn’t owe her anything. They weren’t friends anymore. He didn’t have to be kind.

But he didn’t back down. He just stared at her, his expression unchanged.

Finally, after another drawn out moment, he lifted their hands to his mouth and kissed her fingers. Not once, but twice.

“I’m not a high school punk anymore, Mia. Neither are you,” he said, his voice low. “Why do you think I noticed how those other dudes reacted to you?”

“Old habits die hard?”

He laughed. “Some do, yeah, but I wasn’t thinking about going all fucking Chuck Norris and kicking a bunch of ass like I might’ve been back when we were kids.” His eyelashes dipped for a second, and when their eyes met again, there was something brewing in those melted chocolate pools. If she didn’t know better... “In that first moment of seeing you—realizing it was you...” He broke off, flashing an almost feral smile. “I was thinking about what a fucking idiot I was all those years ago.”

She blinked fast. “You were?”

“Yeah, but the thing is, Mia, I didn’t deserve to think about you like that back then and I sure as hell don’t now.”

“Who said anything about deserving?” The question—the come on—was out of her mouth before she could stop it and while a small part of her wanted to slink away and be ashamed of her brazen behavior, another part of her stood up tall and bold.

She’d been made a fool this week. She’d been made to feel like she was nothing all over again, just like she had growing up.

Despite his juvenile rejection, he’d always had a way of making her feel better about herself. Special, too. And that was really freaking sexy.

“You should kiss me,” she said, her confidence growing with every passing second. “You know to be sure there’s still no chemistry.”

He gave a wry grunt. “You remember that, do you?”

“A girl never forgets her first kiss.”

Surprise flashed in his eyes. “Aww, fuck.”

She threw her head back and laughed.. “You can’t tell me you didn’t know.”

“Are you shittin’ me?” He laughed, too, and the shaking of their bodies somehow resulted in her knees being pressed up against his outer thigh. To keep her balance and not fall into his lap, she put an arm behind his neck. The heat rolling off his body seeped into her skin, warming her to his company even more.

“Why would I shit you about something so silly?” She nudged him with a knee and took a drink. Of their own accord, the fingers on her other hand began to toy with his collar and then the short hair at the back of his neck. And, damn, he smelled good. Fresh and citrusy. So masculine and delicious. What she wouldn’t give for just a taste...

“Damn it, M, if I would’ve known, I would’ve made it good for you.”

A slow grin spread across her face, mostly because she didn’t believe him. “I don’t think you would have.”

His response was a low, sexy chuckle, as he skimmed his fingers down the side of her neck, tracing his thumb along her collarbone. “No? Too bad you’re nursing a broken heart, or I’d offer to make it up to you right now. To prove you wrong.”

If she had to guess, Reed Fletcher wasn’t the kind of guy who normally gave a shit about steering clear of women with broken hearts. In fact, he probably sought them out for the easy, no-strings lays they usually were. The kind of woman she wanted to be right now.

“What are you thinking?” he asked softly, his eyes locked on her mouth.

“Something I probably shouldn’t.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh huh.” Before she lost her nerve, she leaned in and kissed him. He held back for a moment and then suddenly he was kissing her back. Not soft, not rough. Just perfect and thorough, from the confident sweep of his tongue across her lips to the firm, but gentle lick inside.

Mmm. His whiskey-sweet taste, so smooth and addicting, contradicted the prickle of his stubble against her face and she pressed closer, her breasts against his chest, hoping to absorb more of that incredible sensation. That feeling of being consumed.

The next thing she knew, he’d set their glasses on the coffee table and hooked an arm around her ass, lifting and shifting her so she straddled his lap. The rough slide of his callused fingers up the back of her thighs as he pulled her tight against him sent goose bumps dancing across her bare skin. Her already aroused nipples peaked even harder against the inside of her bra.

“Mia.” With his thumb under her chin, he pulled back, cupping her face in his palm. His eyes were wide and alert as they searched hers, and his nostrils flared softly. “I might’ve lied about the lack of chemistry.”

“And I might’ve let you because I was a chicken shit.”

“There were definitely sparks.”

“Fireworks.”

“A goddamn nuclear explosion.”

She smiled. “I don’t know about that. But there could be tonight. What do you say?”

* * *

Every cell in his body said fuck yeah.  Mia had set a certain standard in his life all those years ago and to have her now? No way could he turn down that opportunity, regardless of Mia’s vulnerability.

Then again maybe she wasn’t as defenseless as he’d first thought because as his hands slid up to her ass, she’d already started working off his tie, her fingers fast and greedy.

He took her mouth again and squeezed her cheeks, making her moan and grind against his already stiff cock. He wasn’t going to last. She’d started something brewing in his system at first sight tonight and he’d always had a soft spot for Mia’s voluptuous curves. 

“You smell so fucking good,” he murmured. “And you taste even better. I bet I could lick every last inch of your body and still be starving for more.”

“I’d be happy to let you test that theory.”

All the encouragement he needed. He surged to his feet with her in his arms, spun, and laid her out on the couch before him like a buffet. “You’re so damn beautiful. You were then, and you’re even more so now.” He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it on a nearby chair before coming down on her, his lips hot and wet on her neck. “You have no idea the things I used to think about.”

She tipped her head back to give him better access, all the while arching up against him, pulsing, and urging him on. Somehow he ended up poised between her thighs, his erection pressed against her core. Her dress was pushed up around her belly, and when he glanced down, the sight of her tiny blue panties and the petite curve of her mound beneath was too much.

He needed to taste her. Needed to feel her come undone beneath his mouth.

Giving her one last searing kiss, he pushed back on his haunches and rid her of the damp lace. She coyly pressed her thighs together, biting her bottom lip between her teeth as her big brown eyes widened. Her cheeks were flushed, too, and she looked so damn sweet. Such a fucking temptress.

“Don’t hide from me,” he murmured, lifting one leg and kissing the inside of her ankle as he smoothed his other hand down her opposite thigh. He found her wet and warm. And soft. So damn soft. “Aah, Mia. Baby...”

He was there a second later, mouth on the inside of her creamy thigh. He felt her tremble, heard her breath become more frantic the closer he got to her pussy.

“Please...” Her whispered plea held an edge of that damn uncertainty. Like she was holding back. Scared to take the reins and show him what she really wanted.

He normally liked to tease. To draw out the moment and drive the women he was with absolutely crazy with wanting before he got to the good stuff. But he couldn’t do that tonight. Mia needed to know how desirable she was. How hot and sexy and fucking perfect.

He dove in, nose and lips and tongue, and her hips came off the couch in a gasp.

Grinning, he spread her open with his fingers and teased his tongue around her clit, loving how she instantly began to ride his face, searching out the perfect amount of friction between her movements and his.

“Reed...oh, God...yes.” Her hips rotated against his mouth, her body already so tense. So close.

He looked up at her, wanting to watch her face as she let go, and he found her watching him, eyes heavy-lidded with desire. So fucking pretty.

He slid a finger into her tight, slippery pussy and groaned when she gripped his hair and held him close. She already tasted sweet, but he craved how amazing she’d taste when she came. Any second now...

Adding another finger, he sucked her clit between his lips, gaze still locked on her face. Her nostrils flared and she began to pant as he fucked her with his hand and mouth, intent on making her forget the asshole who’d hurt her.

“I...I don’t know if I can,” she whispered. “God, I want to...” Anxiety and embarrassment flashed across her face and she threw her head back so he couldn’t see any more of her vulnerable emotion.

“You can, Mia, and you will. All over my fucking tongue. I want to taste you. Don’t deny me that.” He hitched her leg higher, opened her further and added a third finger. Pumping hard, he gave her the flat of his tongue, rubbing with abandon over her entire clit, all the nerves, all at once.

Her thighs gripped at his shoulders and the trembling turned into full-on shaking. “More...please...”

In a second, he had his fly undone and his cock in hand. He hadn’t planned on this. Hadn’t planned on touching her, let alone fucking her, but he’d be damned if he’d walk away without getting the job done.

He had to make this good for her. Had to make her come. Failing wasn’t an option, especially when he could tell she needed it so badly.

Her face contorted with raw emotion at his sudden absence and her obvious lack of orgasm, but then he leaned forward and rubbed his cock through her folds and she hissed at the return of sensation.

“Will you come if I fuck you?” he asked through clenched teeth. “Will that do it for you, Mia? My cock buried inside your pussy?”

Her eyes snapped open and she met his gaze, a look of pure determination on her face. She nodded quickly, but something felt off. There was a hesitation in her eyes, and he had to wonder if she was one of those women who couldn’t come...or one who’d been denied a proper fucking.

Suddenly, he was pissed. That prick had denied her? He screwed around and he left her unhappy in bed, too?

With a surge of determination, Reed pulled a condom from his wallet and rolled it on. No hesitation. His sweet Mia wanted to come? Well, he’d make her come. More than once.

He slid home a moment later, eyes rolling back in his head at the hot, stretched fit of her body around his. He paused to let her get used to him and quickly unbutton his shirt. She reached up to help, her hands sliding along his bare skin as he began to move inside her.

“Like this?” he asked, pumping slowly.

She nodded again, but he saw the quiver in her bottom lip. She wasn’t going to fake him out, was she? Because that wouldn’t do.

He reached between their joined bodies and stroked his thumb over her clit. She clenched around his cock and he knew he could build her back up again. Push her over the edge. He just needed her to believe it.

“You feel amazing, Mia. I wish you could feel how tight you are. So you’d understand how crazy you’re making me right now.” He levered down and took her mouth, all the while working her clit harder. “Feeling you come, feeling you grip my cock and milking me... Nothing’s going to feel better. Ever.” Even to his own ears, the words sound like a convenient line, but the truth was...he wasn’t sure it was bullshit.

This was Mia. His Mia. And that had him pushing harder, chasing his own orgasm while he stoked hers. He’d never wanted a woman to fly so badly. Never wanted to go off after her so fucking hard that he flew, too.

“Oh, that’s good...” She dug her heels in and met him thrust for thrust. “Harder.” She pushed his hand out of the way and took over on her clit, two purposeful fingers rubbing firm. “Push my legs higher. Go deeper.”

Jesus Christ, she was going to kill him, but he did as she asked. “Mia, honey...” The world had already started to go black around the edges, but there was no way in hell he’d go before her.

“Tell me again,” she whispered. “Tell me how it feels.”

“Like fucking heaven. Like your pussy was made for my cock.”

“I feel it, too.” She stroked harder, making sexy little grunting noises as they both chased that blissful high. “Oh, God, yes. I’m right there.”

Son of a bitch, he was close, too. Nothing beat hearing that kind of praise.

And then he saw it. The click of realization go hazy in her eyes as she pushed beyond that elusive edge, her entire body going rigid, clenching and unclenching around him. His balls drew up tight and he felt the burn begin to work its way up his spine, spreading through his body in a fiery, frantic rush. With one final thrust, he buried himself deep and let go, soaring after her.

It took a moment to catch his breath and return to earth, and when he did...when he met Mia’s eyes and saw the single tear that slid down her cheek, he scared the shit out of himself by not freaking out. Usually, a woman crying after sex had him running for the door, but the emotion on Mia’s face had him gathering her in his arms and murmuring against her neck.

“You’re perfect, M. Absolutely perfect. Thank you for giving me that.”

She shuddered and gave a small hiccupy sigh. “I don’t usually...I almost never...”

“That’ll never be a problem with me. I promise you that. If you don’t come, I don’t come.”

She made a little noise that sounded like half-gasp, half-sob and clung tighter to him. “Stay with me tonight.”

He wasn’t a sleepover kind of guy, but there’d never been a thing he wouldn’t do for Mia. This didn’t have to be any different.

He pressed a single kiss to her lips. “Absolutely.”