Page 85 of Force Play

“Like the pretty boy face, and nice guy personality weren’t enough, now my body’s decided it’s hot when you act assertive. It’s maddening, honestly.”

“You need to ease the tension. Go for it, but the rest are mine,” I say, my cock pressing against where the seatbelt is restraining it.

“I can wait,” Indie says with more certainty than I’ve heard from her all day.

“There’s my girl.” My hand covers her bare knee, coaxing a whimper out of her when I slide it upwards, letting my pinky travel under the hem of her cutoff denim shorts.

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t, but you will when we get home and I edge you for saying that.”

“You won’t,” she says, her hand covering mine and holding it there, high enough on her inner thigh that I can feel how hot she is. My eyes stray from the road just long enough to see the dare in her smirk. “Because you want it just as bad as me.”

I refocus on the road, determined to get her home in one piece. “That might be true, but you’ve underestimated me since we met. I’ve proven you wrong about a lot of things already; you need to understand that I’m still so much more than you believe me to be.”

“Dom.” Her voice softens, instantly tugging at my heart, because it’s so rare that she shows that side of herself freely.

“Don’t lie to me, and don’t try to make me feel better,” I say, turning onto my street.

“I’m not.”

“That’s lie number one. Any more, and I’ll make you regret them.”

The hand that still clutches mine wavers like she might withdraw it, or move it, but I can’t be sure which. Flipping my palm up I drag hers along as I pull it back toward me and kiss the back of it.

Once the car is parked, I click the button, closing us in the garage. The ride here was fucking torture and the time it would take to get her inside is longer than I want to wait to have another taste of her.

Reaching over the console, I cup the back of her neck and pull her to me. “I hate away games,” I say, against her mouth before I nip at her bottom lip making them part and giving me the access I want to kiss her—exploring, reacquainting myself as she does the same.

“Stupid car,” Indie says, trying to get closer but unable to without climbing into my seat.

With one last kiss, I break our connection and unbuckle. Rounding the front of the car, I step up to her door just as she opens it. My hands grip her waist maneuvering her out of the way and shutting it with my foot as I turn us towards the gym I have set up on the other side of the garage.

“What are you—” Her words turn to a squeal as I lift her, wrapping her leg around me as I make the short walk to the weight bench and sit with her in my lap.

“Showing you just how not sweet I can be. You keep underestimating me and I’m not going to let you use it to push me away. I can handle this, just like I can handle you.”

“You don’t know what you’re getting into. Hell, I don’t even know—”

“Fuck, Indie. I know every terrifying statistic about what could happen. I know that the five-year survival rate is forty-nine point one fucking percent. That you’ll have to decide about having kids if your tests come back positive, that you’ll have to make other decisions . . .” I say, burying my face in her neck and soaking her in. I might be strong but I’m not bulletproof, and the idea of her having to go through surgeries, even if they reduce her risk, is enough to shred the suit of armor that I’m donning to show her what I’m willing to endure for her.

“Why?”

“Fuck, don’t you see what you do to me? What you’ve done to me since the moment we met? When I look at you, I see the future I’ve always wanted. One with someone that will keep me on my toes, and no one does that better than you. I can’t imagine ever waking up beside you bored, because as much as you love adventure, to me, you’re the adventure.”

“And what if we find out that the future you want is in jeopardy next week?”

“We’ll deal with it together. I’ll take every second I have with you, Indie. And right now, I want to spend those seconds showing you that you don’t get to make all the decisions.” My hands move to her hips, pulling her against me so that every inch of me is pressing into her through her shorts. “First you’re going to come for me just like this, the way you did in the car the first night. Then I’m going to strip off your ruined panties and have some fun with you before I finally fuck you into believing that I’m here to stay.”

“I want to believe that—I really do.” Her words are fractured as I rock her center over my hard length.

“Aren’t you sick of fighting it? Just let me be there for you through this.”

“I’m scared.”

“I know, Baby, I am too. But we both know we are better together. You make me stronger. I make you less scary. Like two halves of a whole.” Tugging her shirt free from where it’s trapped in her waistband, I use one hand to inch it up the side of her rib cage before she pulls it off the rest of the way. “So impatient. You can get naked as fast as you want, but you can’t force me to rush.”

My hand follows the curves of her body, brushing the underside of her breast with my thumb. I continue up her sternum and trace the column of her throat until I hook my thumb under her chin, and hold her delicate neck in my hand, forcing her to stop and really look at me. “When you’re scared or unsure, you come to me. You tell me and I’ll remind you that you don’t have to be strong. That I can be strong for you.” Pulling the cup of her baby blue lace bra down, I trace her taupe nipple with my finger, making her shiver. The soft color looks so damn sexy on her. Indie’s brave and formidable. Though I would never show it, she intimidates me at times with her strength. But she’s not without warmth, I’ve seen it firsthand in the way she nurtures her friends, in the generous spirit she has for her work and the compassion she infuses into it, in how she is when it’s just us in the early morning hours, and with Ronnie.

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