I elbow him in the stomach, and he laughs easily, dipping his nose into the hair above my ear as his arms tighten around me. “I’m joking, Mrs. Walker. Don’t divorce me.”
“Fuck off, Daddy.”
He laughs again, and I find myself smiling in the dark as my body hums with tingling warmth encased inside his strong arms.
“How do you do it?” I ask, settling into the pillow and shuffling my ass a little to get comfier.
Reed clears his throat behind me and re-positions his legs further away from mine.
“Do what?”
“All of these events? Talking to all these people and making speeches?”
I was thinking about this today in the spa. I’ve seen Reed address large crowds of people and walk into full rooms, eyes going straight to him, seeking him out. Yet he never loses his cool, never gets flustered.
“I would be a gibbering wreck if it were me.”
“You get used to it.” His chest vibrates against my back as he speaks. “Someone once gave me the advice that I shouldn’t think of my own nerves, but that I should think of the other people there. How they might be feeling, unsure of what to say and do. He told me I should think about how I can serve those people, help them feel more at ease. When you’re focusing your attention on helping other people, you forget about your own problems.”
“That’s actually quite beautiful.” I turn my face and can make out Reed’s eyes shining in the dim light. “Did you use that thought process when you approached the president tonight, too?” I joke.
“I did. I thought about serving him his own ass,” Reed growls, his chest growing hotter against my back. “But my first thought was getting you away from him. Someone being in a situation that makes them uncomfortable, like I could tell you were… that you didn’t… I hate it, Harls.I fucking hate it.I would do anything to prevent someone from feeling that way.”
The strength behind his words shocks me, and we lie together in silence for a few minutes as I think about Riley. I don’t want to ask him about it. It must be so painful for him to think about.His own sister.Knowing someone did something so wicked to her. Took away her control. Violated her. I swallow hard as I try to push the mental images out of my head. She’s come out the other side. She’s a survivor who now dedicates her life to putting these sick bastards behind bars. I wonder if being a prosecution lawyer specializing in sexual assault cases is something she would have ever considered as a career if it weren’t for her past.
“You feeling warmer?” Reed’s voice cuts into my thoughts. He sounds calmer, more relaxed, and I snuggle back into him, letting out a happy hum as my ass brushes against something hard.
I still, my breath stalling. Slowly, I rotate my ass side to side again to make sure it is what I think it is.
Fuck, it is!
I don’t know why, but I perform the same move, slower this time, just to triple check.
Reed clears his throat, and his lips graze my ear. “You need to stop doing that, Mrs. Walker.”
Every cell in my body seems to vibrate as I suck in a breath. His arms are still around me, his solid body pressed tightly against mine, sharing the inferno that his body kicks out with mine. His lips are against my ear, and his dick…
His dick is rock hard and digging into my ass cheeks.
I incline my head to the side. Reed doesn’t move, so my own small twist brings us nearly mouth to mouth. His lips are so close to mine I can almost taste, as well as smell, the mint from his toothpaste that’s still evident on his breath.
My eyes are adjusted enough to the dark now that I can see him almost perfectly. His dark brows, pulled together into a deep look of concentration, his long eyelashes cast down over his cheeks as his gaze falls onto my parted lips.
I roll my hips slowly, fascinated by the way his lips part and he sucks in a breath through his teeth. I thought his body was hot, heating me up like the hard, hot stones they used in the spa today during my massage. But his dick… the energy radiating from it is like a blazing fire that’s had more fuel thrown on. It feels like it might scorch me any second. Brandish me.
“Harley,” he growls out a warning as I turn my head a little more, and the corner of my mouth brushes against his.
“Reed.”
“You need to stop this right now,” he hisses deep from in his chest as I grind my ass back against him again, relishing the hardness of him.
Heat pools between my legs. It’s been a long time since I was with a man, and I could lie to myself and say that’s all this is. A moment of weakness when I’m feeling horny. But that’s what it would be.
A lie.
Because as much as I may try and tell myself that I’m not attracted to Reed Walker.
I can’t.