Page 76 of Sass

He laughed, and when I realised what I’d said, I did as well. “Idiot.” I smooshed another sponge of suds over his shoulder. “All I can say is that if you’re askingme, then maybe that says something. Maybe you’re more open to the idea than you think. Maybe you even want it at some level, even if you’re fighting it. It was the same for me.”

He nodded but said nothing.

“And I think you’re looking for someone else to have the casting vote so you don’t have to make the decision on your own. Newsflash: I’m not gonna do that for you.”

I wriggled my legs free of his waist and braced my hands on his shoulders so I could get out of the bath. Then I grabbed a towel and Leon scooted back to watch me dry off. I wasn’t averse to putting on a bit of a show, taking my time and making sure to lift my foot onto the edge of the bath to dry my leg—just so he could perv at my arse, his dick thickening in the water to bob amongst the bubbles.

“I won’t tell you what to do,” I picked up the conversation. “If you trust me, then trust me when I tell you that you know already what you want to do. You don’t need me to sign off on it. I’ll support you either way.”

The corners of his mouth turned up in a slow smile. “That’s an awfully big commitment from someone who won’t even give what we have a name or an expiry date.”

I flicked him with the end of the towel, but he grabbed it mid-air and tugged me down for a wet kiss, his mouth warm and inviting, the fresh clean scent of him doing electric things to my body, to my heart. I was drowning in him, and I knew it.

He pulled away and brushed noses with me. “Thank you.”

I swallowed hard, my voice when it came, little more than a croak. “You’re welcome. Always.” I held back the words teetering on my tongue that couldn’t possibly be true and passed him a towel. “Get yourself out of that bath and meet me in bed. I’ll be the one with no clothes on and my dick in my hand. Time to pay the piper, sugar.” I winked.

He smiled and my heart tripped again. “So fucking bossy.”

“You better believe it.” I gathered my tattered resistance and fled to the bedroom, sprawling atop the mattress to stare at the decorative plaster angles carved into the ceiling, so neat and clean, so... reassuring.

I breathed through the panic of my racing heart. I could hear Leon moving in the bathroom and I searched for that familiar, reassuring annoyance I generally felt whenever someone was in my house. The prickling irritation to get rid of them. I didn’t need people. I didn’t needmen. I’d been fine on my own. Perfectly fucking fine. And the fact I was speaking in past tense just pissed me off even more.

When I could breathe again, I crawled under the covers and thought of all the men that had passed through my bed, none of them lasting for more than a few laughs and mutually sated bodies. None who I’d worried about. None who I’d bathed. None who I’d fed. None who would be there in the morning and who I’d want to stay even longer. None who I’d held as they’d poured out their frustrations and pain. None, except Leon.

And when he finally joined me, looking more than a little unsure in my space, I never once hesitated. I held my arms open for him like he was something special and choked down the ball of fear in my throat.

He switched off the light, smiled that sneaky smile that did stupid things to my heart, and crawled into my arms. But then, instead of fucking me through the mattress as promised, the bastard took my body apart inch by delicious fucking inch—an exquisite, slow-burn annihilation of all the crumbling walls I’d tried so desperately to shore up.

In a last-ditch attempt to hold my ground, I finally pushed him off and rolled to my hands and knees, buried my damp face in the pillow, and offered myself for his taking—anything to escape the bruising tenderness in his eyes as Leon rode my sweat-slick body to climax, fucking me deep until he cried out and exploded inside me like a million shooting stars.

And when he folded his big body over mine and reached around to finish me off, a single touch was all it took, and I rode a wave of pleasure, with him still buried deep in my body. I shouted and slammed my fist on the mattress and he pressed soothing kisses the length of my spine until I was floppy in his arms. And when I was still and sated, he slipped gently from my body, disposed of the condom, and flipped me to my back. All those big muscles curled around my slim frame, and with his head on my shoulder and his leg stretched across my thighs, he pinned me down.

Oh, the irony of it.

I kissed the sweat from his brow as he hummed contentedly. All the men I’d had in this bed and I’d never felt anything close to the peace I felt in that moment. I sighed and stroked his hair. “So, that was pretty okay, I guess.”

He snorted. “Yeah? When my dick checks back in, I’ll let you know. But there’s always room for improvement. You can never have too much practice, right?”

I chuckled and nipped his nose. “Mmm. A training schedule. I like it. But we’re gonna need a lot more lube.”

He closed his eyes and let me hold him. A shaft of weak grey moonlight striped our bodies at the hip, and I pressed kisses to every part of him I could reach until his breathing slowed and his body sank like a leaden weight against me. Not that I was going to move. Leon needed to sleep and rest his demons, and he was going to get what he needed if it fucking killed me.

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

Kip

“For fuck’s sake,”I hissed, easing my bedroom door closed on a still-sleeping Leon so I could go rip a new one in whoever the hell was hammering on my front door at zero arse o’clock on a Sunday fucking morning.

“What the hell iswrongwith you?” I had the words out before the door was even halfway open and I had time to see it was George.Shit.I sucked in a sharp breath and schooled my expression. “On second thought, don’t answer that.” I folded my arms and leaned on the jamb. “We really don’t have time to do the question justice.”

He blinked slowly and I carefully ignored his flinch. He could go fuck himself for all the times he’d ignored worse than that with me. Like watching me walk out the door when I was barely old enough to look after myself. And for taking their side.

“What do you want?” I eyed him disdainfully. “I thought I made myself clear last week.”

“Can you not just answer your bloody phone?” he grumbled. “Is it really too much to ask?”

“Yes. Now what do you want?”

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