Rowan was poised for a moment on the edge of that precipice and then she tumbled into kissing Seb. She’d been thinking of this, dreaming about being in his arms again, all week—a mess of sexual frustration—and she’d kept herself super-busy to keep her mind off jumping him again. But now, as his hand grabbed her butt and yanked her up and into him, she could indulge in her need to rediscover those strong muscles, the heat of his skin, his talented hands, his sexy mouth.
Rowan yanked at his shirt and pulled it up his chest, her lips kissing the skin it revealed. Seb pulled the shirt over his head with one hand and Rowan placed her lips on the edge of the fabulous geometric tattoo that covered his shoulder and his bicep.
‘I love this,’ she murmured against his inked skin. ‘So hot, so sexy.’
‘I love the way you smell,’ Seb replied, his words blowing warm air against her neck. ‘Of sunshine and flowers.’
The tip of Rowan’s tongue swirled against his collarbone. ‘I thought we weren’t going to do this...that we were going to get to know each other.’
‘I know that you are a brat and that you kiss like a dream,’ Seb replied, his hand curling around her breast and his thumb swiping her nipple. ‘So I’m good, knowledge-wise, for now.’
Rowan’s breath caught in her throat. ‘And I know that nobody spikes my temper like you do and that you make my blood boil when you touch me like that. That’s all I need to know right now.’
‘Bed?’ Seb demanded, clasping her face in his hands.
Rowan licked her lips. ‘Bed, couch, floor. Take your pick.’
Seb grinned. ‘I really like the way you think.’
SEVEN
‘One of these days we are going to have a post-coital conversation,’ Seb muttered as Rowan bounded from his bed and headed into his en-suite bathroom.
She grinned as she shoved her hand into the shower and flipped on the taps to boiling. She popped her head around the doorway and smiled again. Seb lay face down on the bed, his head turned in her direction. ‘Poor baby, are you feeling neglected?’ she teased. ‘Do you need me to act like your girlfriend?’
His eyes narrowed. ‘I’ve never needed my actual girlfriends to act like my girlfriend so...no. You’re exhausting. You never stay still for a second.’
He was right. She didn’t. Staying still gave her too much time to think about things she’d rather not think about—needs that had gone unrecognised for far too long. Like affection and friendship, a sense of belonging, a house to come home to. Since they were too high a price to pay for losing her freedom she pushed them away and refused to think about them.
‘One of these days I’m going to tie you to this bed with silk scarves and keep you here.’
Rowan flushed at the thought of being at his mercy, being under his control. Instead of making her feel panicky she felt excitement and...lust. Excitement? Good grief.
But she’d ignore the silk scarves portion of that sentence for a minute...
‘Does that mean that you want us to carry on sleeping together?’ Rowan demanded, ignoring the pounding shower.
‘Since I spend so much time thinking about sleeping with you I might as well just have sex with you.’
‘Ooh, don’t stop. I just love it when you say such sexy, sweet things,’ Rowan drawled.
Seb winced, turned over, and pushed himself up on his elbows. ‘Sorry, that sounded churlish.’
Rowan folded her arms against the towel she’d wrapped around her torso. ‘Churlish is the least of it.’
Seb rubbed his hand over his head and scowled. ‘Dammit, Ro...this situation is going to bite me—us—in the butt, yet I can’t stop wanting you. Sleep with you...don’t sleep with you. Either way my ass is on the line to get chomped. I look at you and my control flies out of the window.’
Seb had looked as if he was passing a kidney stone as he’d said that, Rowan thought on an internal hiccupped laugh. Still, he was trying to express himself and she appreciated the effort, even if it was clumsy and ass-related. And, really, didn’t she feel exactly the same way? She was leaving soon, and had no intention of letting Seb get under her skin, yet here she was, newborn-naked in his room, wishing he’d get out of bed and join her in the shower. And if they did this—continued to sleep together—they had to be very careful about what they were jumping into.
‘If we’re going to do this then we need to be very sure of what we are doing.’ Rowan repeated her thought. ‘I’ll lay my cards on the table... I like you, and I love sleeping with you, but I am going to leave.’