His hands settled lightly on my hips. “You don’t need to.”

Glancing down at the hard line clearly visible through his nylon pants, I lifted a brow. “I think I do.” I bit down on my lip as I straddled his legs. “Unless you don’t want me to.”

“Babe, I want to do whatever the fuck you want to do,” he said, eyes heavily hooded. “And trust me, I want you to do whatever it is you’re planning, but I just want you to understand you don’t have to.”

Oh dear, I felt the back of my throat burn as I ducked my chin.

“I don’t expect that from you,” he said.

I kept my gaze lowered as I swallowed around the sudden lump in my throat. I couldn’t think of the last time it wasn’t expected from me after a couple of drinks and a few nice words. Hell, I couldn’t remember the last time someone had gotten me off before today, especially as easily as he had.

“I want to do it.” My voice was light.

He made a deep sound that made my blood hum. “Then you have me.”

If only.

I started to fix my bra, but he caught my hand. “I like you like this,” he said, his eyes like blue fire. “I’ll never forget you looking like this.”

I sucked in a shaky breath. “Who knew you could say all the right words?”

“I know, right?” He chuckled. “Usually I’m saying all the wrong ones.”

That could be said for the both of us, but I was beyond talking. We were a disaster in the making, but as I slid down his body, I couldn’t stop myself. Neither of us could stop. I’d deal with it later. I was good, if not great, at pushing things away to deal with later.

His pecs were hard and smooth under my mouth. I tasted his skin, reveling in the salty mixture as I kissed my way down his tight abs, closing my eyes as I forged a wet path down to the loose fit of his pants. His body was a work of art—hard and like silk stretched over steel. I could worship him all day long.

I tugged gently on his pants and he lifted his hips. “Look at me,” he said. “Being all helpful.”

“So surprised,” I murmured, giggling.

The laugh died off though when I got my first real glimpse of him. His pants were down to his thighs and he was exposed in all his glory, and boy, was it a lot of glory. Every part of him matched up in size, and he was huge.

I trailed my finger down the center of him, grinning when his entire body jerked at the touch. “You like that?”

“That would be a ‘hell yeah.’”

Smiling, I wrapped my hand around the base. He throbbed against my palm. I knew what to do. I’d done this before, many times when I didn’t want to go…well, those times didn’t matter, because I wanted this. I wanted to do this.

I moved my hand in a slow pace, watching him through my lashes. His eyes were almost completely shut, his jaw locked down tight, and his hips followed my rhythm. It was so natural, and I wasn’t really thinking about anything when I scooted down further and lowered my head. The tips of my breasts brushed his thighs as I circled my tongue over the head.

Tanner all but growled out, “Yes.”

Yes. Yes. That word cycled in my head over and over. I closed my mouth over him and took him in, running my tongue as I went as far as I could go.

“Fuck. Your mouth,” he groaned. “God. Damn. I’m not going to last.”

I would’ve laughed, but I was so caught in the act of pleasing him. Normally this…this seemed like such a chore. With Tanner, it felt sensual and promising. Mutual. Give and take. Sexy and beautiful.

His hand tangled in my hair, but he didn’t hold me to him, and that was a…a nice change up right there. He moved, thrusting his hips, but he held back, and he was right, he didn’t last long.

“I’m about to come.” He tried to pull away, but I wouldn’t let him. Closing my eyes, I took him deeper. “Andrea,” he moaned, his hips rising off the comforter.

The feel of him coming apart was something that I would never forget. The musky, salty taste, the way he pulsed and how he held my neck so gently—all of it was as shattering as the pleasure he had brought me.

As I slowed down and lifted my head, I saw that he was staring at me with wide eyes and in a way I couldn’t decipher. I didn’t move as he sat up and gripped the sides of my face, and I sure as heck didn’t breathe when he hauled me against his chest and kissed me. And it was no small kiss either. It was deep and scorching, lighting me up.

When we broke apart, he rested his forehead against mine and let out a short breath. “Well, Andy, this, by far, has to be the best trip to a cabin ever.”

A slow grin pulled at my lips and then spread into a full smile—a real smile, and before I knew it, I was laughing, and it felt like the first real laugh in a very long time.

Chapter 11

Andrea

We lay side by side, our heads propped up on the abundance of pillows stacked at the head of the bed. I’d finally fixed my bra and had pulled my shirt back on, but Tanner was still rocking his bare chest hotness and I was okay with that.

He’d gone downstairs at some point and had grabbed us two sodas. Normally I drank diet, but I slurped up the good old-fashioned kind without complaint. He’d also brought up a block of cheese that he’d pulled apart in chunks, and I think I might’ve fallen in love with him a little at that moment.

Because cheese equaled happiness.

I had no idea where Syd and Kyler were or if they had any suspicions about the kinkery that had just gone down in this room, but I was trying not to do a lot of thinking, because thinking led to stressing and stressing led to stupidity for me.

Tanner talked about some of the calls he’d responded to while working at the fire hall. The funny ones—like when someone had locked themselves out on the balcony of their apartment…naked as the day they were born. Or when the department was called by an overeager child who’d just learned in school what to do in case of an emergency and was more of a show than tell when it came to explaining to their parents what they’d learned.

He laughed a lot, and I liked it when he did. It was a good sound, one I had tried not to pay attention to before, but now I couldn’t help but smile when I heard it. I was slow to realize that he was always laughing. I just had to pull my head out of my ass and pay attention.

“So how did your parents react when you changed your major?”

My eyes widened. “Oh, my God, they flipped out. They think I’m throwing away all of my education and that I’m ruining my life by wanting to become a teacher.”

“I don’t think becoming a teacher is ruining your life,” he said. “Plus, it’s just as important as becoming a doctor.”

I raised one hand and rubbed my thumb and pointer together. “Money. A teacher makes way less money.”

“And that’s all they care about?”

Was it? “That’s a hard question to answer, to be honest. Money is important to them. I don’t think it’s the only thing.” I frowned slightly. “I think they just want to make sure I have a…a good life, you know? That I don’t struggle.”

“That’s understandable, but being a teacher doesn’t mean you’ll be dirt poor.”

I laughed softly as I bent one leg. “Yeah, and they also wanted me to become a plastic surgeon like them—like Brody was going to do. Unless I decided to specialize in emergency procedures, I’d spend my life augmenting boobs and noses.”

“Did Brody change what he’s doing? He’s in med school, right?”

Surprise flitted through me. I had no idea that he remembered anything about my brother. He’d met him once, though it had been brief. “He’s not doing plastic surgery. He’s going for trauma. I think he likes the adrenaline.”

I also think he liked the whole God complex that came with the job. Good fit for him.

“My parents have accepted it,” I added as I wiggled my toes. “Begrudgingly, but hey, at least Brody hasn’t disappointed them, so they have that.”