Page 27 of A Very Addicted Christmas

Really, his bulge.

“Jane,” he says my name in this deep, intoxicating way. I drop into the abyss of his voice.

“Yes?”

The air is taut. I swear we inhale at the same time.

And then his chest tightens, his grip strengthened on the wheel, and he checks the side mirrors. “You were fine.”

I try to breathe. “That’s…um, that’s good.” I tie my frizzed hair off my blazing hot neck. “If you’d rather me be quiet and us just sit in silence, please tell me,” I remind him. “I really don’t want to annoy you.”

“You’re not.” He eyes me, then the radio. “I’d rather listen to you.” He reaches forward and lowers the volume of the holiday music.

A smile pulls at my lips, one that hurts my cheeks. “That’s also very good,” I say in a shallow breath, “because I do love talking.” My heartbeat quickens. “Some people even actually believe that the tongue is the strongest muscle in the human body.”

We lock eyes again, this time for the briefest but seemingly longest moment of my life.

“I mean the tongue does incredible things if you think about it,” I continue on. “Talking and eating and swallowing.” Heat suddenly basks and radiates the front section of the bus. He must be feeling the scorch too because he adjusts the air conditioning for us both.

Swallowing.There are many connotations to the word, and the one that I fix on happens to be oral. His cock, specifically.Taking him in my mouth, and then I wonder what his erection even looks like—and that is...

He’s your bodyguard.

It will…never happen. It can’t.

Thatcher curls some pieces of his longish hair behind his ears. Quiet like usual. Nothing is amiss. He even maintains focus on the road.

I take a breath and try to course correct. “But,” I begin again, “while most people believe it’s the tongue, I personally think the heart is the strongest muscular organ. Really, it’s keeping all of us alive.” I say without thinking, “But I do love my tongue.” I gesture to him for some odd reason. “It’s necessary for many things.”

Like brilliant head.

I press my lips together. I can’t believe I’m thinking about blowjobs when he’s sitting right beside me. It’s one thing to be alone in my bedroom with my favorite vibrator and these thoughts—another to be in breathing distance of him.

His muscles have tensed. “A tongue is a good organ.”

Intrigue lights up my eyes.What is your favorite thing to do with your tongue? What do you love most in life? Who are you really?So many questions tumble in my head, and yet, I don't ask a single one. “It is,” I say softly.

I start rambling about eggnog. Truly the best holiday drink in existence, and I check my phone for missed texts.

I see one from Nate. My friends-with-benefits.

I go quiet while I read.

NATE

Hey. Going to be in San Diego next week. If you’re around there, we should meet up.

Meet up for sex. That’s all it is with Nate. And that’s what I prefer. Something easy that feels good. I quickly text him back and let him know we won’t be in San Diego, but I give him the location of our next stop—in case his plans change and he’s in the area.

“Everything okay?” Thatcher asks, noticing my silence and how I stare at the phone screen.

“Yes.” I sit straighter and pocket my phone back into my onesie. “It was just Nate. He wants to meet up during the tour at some point.”

He narrows his eyes on the highway. “If he’s coming on the bus, I need to know.”

“I’ll tell you,” I promise. “But I’m still leaning towards not having Nate here at all.”

His brows knit, as though a question is on his mind. Like me, he doesn’t ask. He won’t broach Nate beyond security protocols.

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