“Rude. That was my dessert. Your pussy is fucking delicious.”
“Colt, that was … you were, I mean … Goddamn, that was hot!”
A blush spread across her cheeks, and she lowered her gaze.Fuck, I wish I could see her like this all the time.I couldn’t help myself, so I claimed her lips in a searing kiss, thrusting my tongue into her mouth, and forcing her to taste herself.
“See how good you taste?” I growled against her lips, only getting a soft whimper in response. She definitely needed some water; I didn’t want her body to shut down.
Darkness had enveloped us by now, a black canvas speckled with sparkling little diamonds, unfathomable and infinite, like the woman in front of me.
Still buck-ass naked, I rose from the hot tub, struggling to ignore that her eyes were immediately drawn to my bobbing, rock-hard length, and fetched us some towels.
Neither of us said a word as I wrapped her in one before we padded into the house barefoot. Hunter had probablyreturned by now, but knowing him, he had wisely disappeared into his room. He wasn’t the best at social interactions, but he wasn’t stupid.
I led Hailey into the kitchen, filled a glass with water, and handed it to her. She had an odd expression on her face, but in the dim light, it was impossible to decipher.
Hailey drained the glass while I leaned against the countertop lost in thought. I was a little worried about what would happen next. Would we pretend nothing had happened? Would we ever talk about this night? Would things get awkward between us?
“I guess I should get going.”
Anxiety settled deep in my stomach. My subconscious wanted to fall back into old patterns, to convince myself I wasn’t good enough, but something pulled me back. Something in her tone — was that reluctance I heard? Could it be that she didn’t want to leave?
Before I could talk myself out of it, I blurted, “You can also stay. With me.”
Hailey’s lips parted, and for seemingly endless seconds she stared at me, eyes wide.
“Only if you want to, of course. It was just a—”
“Yes. Absolutely. I’ll stay here.”
My eyebrows shot up, but then I got a grip and masked my surprise. Cautiously, I held out my hand to her. Sometimes, I was still afraid of scaring her or inadvertently intimidating her with my size. Sometimes, you start to feel like one when you’ve been called the beast for years. Hailey had never shown the slightest sign of fear, but this anxiety was rooted in my core.
And where she was concerned, they seemed unfounded.Without a second’s hesitation, she placed her soft hand in mine.
“Okay, let’s go, then.”
Not allowing myself to overthink the matter any further, I led her upstairs to my room. She took her time looking around, taking in the floor-to-ceiling windows, and I’ve never been so happy about keeping things tidy.
“Guess you need something to sleep in, right?”
A wicked grin spread across Hailey’s face. “What if I told you I sleep naked?”
“I’d say cool, me too. But if you want me to make it through the night, I’ll beon my kneesbegging you to at least put on a shirt. I only have so much control, Princess.”
I ran a hand through my hair, ruffling it. The thought of lying naked in bed with Hailey was enough to make my resistance crumble, but we wouldn’t go any further than we already had tonight.
That was a line I had drawn. As much as I craved it, hungered for it, I wouldn’t risk her regretting it. No fucking way.Ifwe ever fucked, I’d have to be sure she wanted it as badly as I did.
“Alriiight.” I was almost exasperated that she actually sounded a little disappointed.
“Very generous of you,” I deadpanned before going into my closet to grab a shirt for her.
“The bathroom’s in the back if you want to … freshen up,” I called out to her as I finished toweling myself off. Her bare feet padded across the wooden floor, then the sound of running water could be heard.
She stepped out of the bathroom as if on cue, dropping her towel and reaching for her shirt, when I emerged in a freshpair of boxers.Christ almighty. Was she trying to kill me?
I glanced up at the ceiling but not before spotting the devilish expression on her face.
Brat. She’d pay for this one day.
