Page 53 of Dirty Dancer

“Please?”

CHAPTER 21

FREDDIE

My heart locked up in my chest. It wasn’t physically possible to stop beating altogether, but I swore it felt like it had. The whole time I’d opened my soul to her, Boo-Boo had stood there and let me pour it out. She’d pushed only when I’d tried to distract her from the pain and the darkness.

The simple truth was, my darkness didn’t scare her. As much as I wanted to protect her from it, I didn’t have to. She had her own darkness. When she’d faced it down, I’d been right there with her. We’d done it together. She could handle me and mine.

I just needed to be willing to do itwithher. Not for her. Not because of her. Butwithher, cause she wouldn’t let me fall and even if I did, hell, she’d be right there to help put me back together again.

Instead of dropping her gaze to look at me immediately, she kept her attention fixed on my face. “You have seen my eyes before,” I reminded her.

“Could be that I’m just enjoying looking at you, you know,” she said. With her dark hair soaked and slicked back, it highlighted her high cheekbones and the air of fragility that was always present. Everything about her was so masterfully put together, sometimes, she was so beautiful it made it hard to breathe.

Then she’d crack a joke or tease me, and she was just Boo-Boo. Ethereal, perfect, and absolutely the best.

“Could also be that you have lovely eyes,” she said, pushing up on her tiptoes before she kissed my jaw. “And that I like it when you blush too.”

My face went hot and I glared at her. Granted, I wasn’t really annoyed but no one could make meflushlike she did. “Enough of that, Boo-Boo. You can have fun picking on me later.”

“Fine,” she said, the single syllable riding out on a huff of an exasperated sigh. “I’ll make sure I memorize everything about you later.”

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head, but she took another step back and looked at me. Reallylookedat me. The prickle of unease shivered over my skin, but it was there and gone again. The laughter didn’t give it much purchase.

“Freddie…” She pursed her lips, contemplating me for so long I thought she’d forgotten . “I’m afraid that I think you’re even hotter now than I did before.”

My mouth fell open for a moment, I’d been ready with a sarcastic comment. Yet, the last thing I expected her to say was the first thing that came out of her mouth.

When she made a little twirl motion with her finger, I snapped my mouth closed with a click of my teeth. She wanted me to turn around.

This is Boo-Boo.

The mental chant reminded me that I trusted Boo-Boo. She would never hurt me. Oddly enough, the unease I worried aboutdidn’t manifest at all. If anything, her playfulness entertained me. I did a little spin for her, slowing so I faced away.

There were scars on my back. Most of these I’d earned as an adult. A couple from knife fights. Another from doing a wipeout when I’d been learning to ride a motorcycle and gotten cocky.

“I’m going to touch you,” she said.

“Okay.” I waited for the resistance to rise up. I waited for the tension to lock up my muscles. Neither occurred.

The feather light contact of her fingers on my skin sent a ripple of goosebumps over my skin. Closing my eyes, I savored the sensation as she explored my back. It was almost like she was petting me.

Maybe she was.

Then she pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “How do you feel?” Her voice wrapped around me like a siren call, beckoning for an answer.

“Really fucking amazing,” I told her, almost afraid to give voice to it and jinxing it. “I like you touching me.”

“I like touching you too.” She slid her hands around me and pressed her naked body against my back. I covered her hands on my stomach, aware of my dick straining. I’d been hard just thinking about her in the shower.

An erection seemed a permanent state around Boo-Boo. I was so used to it at this point, I noticed more when I didn’t have one than when I did.

“Still good?” Every word was an open door to tell her what I needed. If I wanted to stop right now, she would. Fuck knew she had before and I’d left her frustrated and unsatisfied.

“Yeah,” I exhaled. “Real good. I want this to last, Boo-Boo.”

“Want to know a secret?”

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