Page 44 of Brutal Sin
“You won’t hear a denial from me. But the reason for the explanation is to set things straight. The lack of fucking has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me needing to remain interested for the demonstration night.”
She climbed onto the bed, her brow regaining its furrow. “You know, Bryan, I never took you for the it’s-not-you-it’s-metype.”
Because he wasn’t. Never had been. She inspired anomalies. “And I never took you for a woman who could come with a mere twist of my fingers. I guess we both made inaccurate assumptions.”
He kicked off his shoes and placed his socks insidethem.
“You’re still staying?”
“We made a bet. I’m not a sore loser.”
This was a mistake. A huge mistake. His dick stood rigid as fuck. His restraint was equally vulnerable. Yet, for some unknown reason, he wasn’t sprinting for thedoor.
He undid the top button of his shirt, moving down, one by one. Her hungry gaze ate up each new inch of exposed skin. He could practically feel those eyes sending their laser beam of fascination down his chest. The distraction should’ve made him stop and throw this upcoming train wreck in reverse.
“Want me to turn off the living room lights before I climb in?” He shoved the material off his shoulders, letting it fall to the floor.
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s early. I just want to lay here a while.” She pulled the covers to her chin, snuggling farther into her pillow.
The entire scene before him seemed like a parallel universe. He didn’t do this shit—not the sleepovers or the dinner. Definitely not the wine. And, Jesus Christ, if he thought about throwing the bet one more time, he’d probably throw his cookies, too.
But every time he blinked, he appreciated the sight he opened his eyes to. She looked natural. Relaxed. She didn’t attempt to seduce him. She was just a woman, without flaw, and he was just a man, withmany.
“So, who wasshe?”
He paused in the middle of unbuckling his belt. “She?”
“The woman who turned Bryan to Brute.”
“There’s no woman,” he lied. “Like I said, I haven’t been with anyone more than once since my school days.” He released his belt, undid the zipper, and shoved his pants to the floor. “You really need to stop searching for excuses to explain who I am. There aren’tany.”
She made a noise. An mmph of disapproval. “We’re all shaped by our experiences.”
“If you say so.” He averted his gaze, unable to look at her while he climbed into bed beside her. Out of all the sexual things he’d done over the years, this, by far, seemed the strangest.
Then again, it wasn’t sexual.
This part was due to thebet.
A bet he’d thrown.
“If there’s no woman, then tell me about your upbringing. Have you lived in Beaumont all your life? Do you have familyhere?”
Well, that was a sure-fire way to instigate a limp dick. “Grew up in Florida. Had a good education. Excelled in math and science. Hated my parents, like every kid my age.” Problem was, his parents had hated himback.
“Do you go home often?”
“Not at all. A while ago I bought an apartment in Tampa, thinking I’d eventually revisit where I grew up. But…” What the fuck? This wasn’t a shrink session. He didn’t need to rehash the past to fill the silence. “I have no plans to go back now.” He cleared his throat, rested back against the pillow, and stared up at the ceiling. “How ’bout you? What are your issues?”
“You already know mine.” She released another noise, this time a tired moan. “Dead husband. Kinky proclivities. Inability to orgasm.”
“You orgasm justfine.”
Her chuckle was a puff of breath. “Spoken by the only man capable of making it happen.”
“You’ll figure yourself out soon enough.” With another man. Maybe in anotherclub.
“Yeah… Iknow.”
