I frowned down at her. “No? Is this a trick question? Wait, scratch that. I’m still going with no.”
Somehow, that did it. The angry tension cracked and dissipated as she bit her lip to keep herself from smiling. That beautiful mouth of hers. Suddenly there was a different kind of tension between us, one that made my head spin and my blood pound. She was so damned close, and I could feel every part of her.
“You are such an idiot,” Brit said, but her voice was going husky and her gaze on me was getting hot.
I held her gaze, letting her see exactly what I was thinking. “Yeah, I am.”
“A sexy idiot.”
I touched her finally, gently digging my hands into her hair and holding her still as I dipped my mouth along the side of her neck, breathing her in. “I’ll take it,” I said. “I’m selfish. I’ll take anything you can give me.”
I heard her breathe out, a sound that was almost like a sigh. Her pulse was racing under her skin. I could smell her soap and her clean sweat and I couldn’t get enough. “I can’t resist you when you’re like this,” she said, but she sounded blissed out.
“Like what?” I asked.
A brief pause, like she was going to say something but changed her mind. “Naked.”
“I didn’t think you noticed.”
She huffed out part of a laugh. “I noticed.”
I kissed the tender spot behind her ear, touching the tip of my tongue to her skin. “You drive me fucking crazy,” I confessed. “All the time, Brit. I think you can tell.”
I was referring to the action under my towel, where things were picking up. Brit responded by sliding her hands over my waist and pressing her hips against mine. It was too much, and I gave in and kissed her, deep and sweet, exploring her. She kissed me back, and this felt different from the other times. She was eager. It felt, for the first time, like I could make her forget herself. Like I could make her lose her mind.
I wanted to make her lose her mind.
Her hands went to my towel, and I broke the kiss and dropped my hands over hers, stopping her. “Take your dress off,” I said, holding her gaze with mine. “We’re going to do this right.”
TWENTY-FIVE
Brit
For the second time on this tour, I was mostly naked with my best friend. The first time had been amazing, and I’d relived it almost constantly, thinking about the way he’d tasted and how his hands felt on my skin. I hadn’t regretted a second of it.
But this time…something was different about this time. We were more raw, more urgent, less tentative. Almost desperate. Or maybe that was just me.
My dress was off—I wasn’t wearing a bra under it, which had gotten a very hot reaction out of Axel—and his towel was gone. The room was dim, the rain coming down hard outside the windows as the hotel slept. We were in bed, and Axel’s hands roamed me everywhere as he kissed me, gripping my ass, cupping my breasts, squeezing my hips or the back of my neck, and instead of flinching, I only wanted more. More and more and more.
I was bold for once, because I felt invincible. Still kissing him, I rolled him onto his back and straddled his hips, pressing my palms into his shoulders and pinning him to the bed. I let my teeth lightly travel his lower lip, and he made a sound that was delighted and very, very turned on. His hands came up to cup my breasts again, and in response I wiggled my hips. I still had my panties on, and the feeling of the thin fabric between us only made it hotter.
I broke the kiss and looked down at him. He was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen. His skin was all smooth dips and muscled shadows in the late-night light, his beautiful hair mussed, and the way he looked at me made me think that steam would start rising from my skin. It was me he was looking at—not just anyone, but me, with my body and my thorny hang-ups and my sharp tongue and my past mistakes. Me. I was a freaking goddess.
Our gazes locked in one of those moments that only happened between Axel and me, and I knew what he wanted. I also knew, as always, that he’d let me set the limits between us, and I loved him for it.
I didn’t want any limits. I was done with limits.
To communicate this, I moved my hips again. His gaze went dark and hazy, but the move backfired when sparks flew through my brain. He was so hot and hard, and I wanted him so much, I could barely think.
Axel lifted his hips beneath me, tightening the friction, and we both made crazed sounds. Then he regained some form of control and slid his hands from my breasts down over the curve of my waist to my hips, stilling me.
“Hold on,” he said, his voice strained. “I don’t have any condoms. Do you?”
I shook my head, still unable to form words. It hadn’t even occurred to me to pack condoms on this trip, and I’d gone off of birth control after my breakup, but—
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Are you saying that both of us went on a ten-week tour without packing condoms?”
Axel’s tongue moistened his lip and he frowned, taking this question seriously. “Well, I wasn’t planning to have sex unless I got a shot with you.”