Page 54 of Totally Off Limits

“You weren’t clear about what you were asking.”

“Well, you could have just said you didn’t know either.”

“But then I would have missed making you frustrated—and you’re so fucking cute when you’re frustrated.” Standing, Mickey laid his bass back in its case that he’d moved to the coffee table. After snapping it shut, he picked it up and set it near the door. Then he turned to her, a captivating smirk plastered on his face.

Sierra started to speak and stopped herself. “What do you mean?” As master of her emotions and facial expressions, she needed to knowhowMickey knew what was in her head and heart.

“It’s in your eyes. Your whole face looks calm and neutral, but your eyes do this thing—your pupils get a little wider and you narrow them a little. There’s no hiding it.”

Did that mean that all these years of practiced obedience and lying to avoid discussions with her mother was a smokescreen that actually hadn’t worked?

No. It couldn’t be. She’d shut her mother up far too many times by telling her the things she wanted to hear. It could only be one thing.

Mickey.

He actually cared enough to pay attention to that kind of thing—and if Sierra had thought she’d been lusting after him before, she’d been mistaken.

And she smiled—just a little—at the thought.

As if he knew exactly what she was thinking, Mickey moved close to her on the couch and, taking her face in his hands, brought his lips to hers. She was more than willing to kiss him, but she’d expected a soft, sweet touch to her lips—instead, it was hard, insistent.

Purposeful.

And her body responded, all engines go.

Kissing him back, Sierra felt her entire body grow tense with expectation. Winding her fingers through his hair, she pressed her torso against his as his tongue explored her mouth. Without any thought, everything in her responded in the most primal way—her heartbeat began racing, her breathing quickened, and her pussy grew wet, all in anticipation of what was to come. A tiny voice in the back of her head cautioned her. If she kept playing with Mickey this way, it was going to be hard to do what her family demanded she do.

And she would have to break his heart.

There was something deeper, though, something buried underneath all the layers of bullshit in her brain, an even quieter voice sending her a message completely different.

If she truly cared for Mickey, if shelovedhim…maybe things would work out.

What the fuck?

Shoving that stupid shit even deeper, Sierra yanked at the bottom of Mickey’s t-shirt. This wasn’t about anything other than good old-fashioned lust. Mickey was an amazing lover who managed to get her off and do it well, not to mention he was beautiful to look at, and there was nothing wrong with two consenting adults getting their fuck on.

Fuck her mother. Fuck her parents. Fuck her future.

For now, she needed this. She needed to forget about obligations and expectations and just enjoy herself. And, later on, her brain could sort out all the silly emotions. That was all it was. It had to be. You couldn’t have sex with someone several times without confusing your heart a little. And that was okay. She could make it over that hill later, no problem.

For the meantime, she had to enjoy Mickey and his beautiful body, his amazing cock. And she had to believe that things would work themselves out eventually.

As she ran her fingers up his sinewy abdomen, she tried to remember the tattoos on his skin there and couldn’t. It didn’t help that his lips had moved to her neck, distracting her. The way he whispered sounded so loud to her ears, unlike the sounds from his bass strings just moments earlier. “Goddamn, Sierra. You’re so fucking sweet.”

What did he even mean? Her skin? Or something else?

“I’mnot,” she said, pushing against him so that he backed up a bit.

“Careful, babe—unless youwantedto fuck me on the floor. I’m game for whatever.”

An unexpected emotion was growing in the pit of her belly, something she couldn’t identify—but it felt almost like anger.

That didn’t make sense.

But as he began kissing her on the mouth again so hard it made her lips burn, she tried to let it go, focusing instead on the need pulsing through her veins. When he placed his hands on her hips, that emotion flared again, and Sierra felt almost helpless, not sure how to handle the power and the confusion she was experiencing. In response, she wanted to squeeze the shit out of his ass or punch him in the face—and she knew, even in her weird state, that that didn’t make any damn sense.

If she cared about Mickey, why would she want to hurt him?

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