Page 26 of Hate Game

He glanced up. “Stop?”

“Sensitive.”

His smile curved against my hot skin.

“More?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve never done this with any girl, Rue.”

I hoped I tasted okay. “I had lots and lots of ice cream and sweets today and yesterday, if it helps.”

“Taste doesn’t matter as much as knowing I’m tasting you.”

The things he said. “I want to taste you too.”

“You don’t have to.”

He turned down a BJ?

“I wouldn’t do it for any guy, Malice. Just you. Just let it be, okay?”

He nodded, this slow up and down of his head. I understood why Malice didn’t want me to give him a BJ. He respected me and wouldn’t want our first time to be about his pleasure. But I did want to make him—us—feel good. That night was aboutus.

He took his time worshipping me with his mouth and his tongue. Malice explored and tasted until I shattered on his face. Coming for him was a different experience than when I touched myself. It was much better. I watched him undress.

Malice took his time.

Was he giving me a chance to change my mind? I waited. My sex throbbed. My body tingled from head to toe. The silence stretched on. He stared at my naked body, and I stared back. He was magnificent, my book boyfriend come true with his broad shoulders, guns for arms, six-pack abs, and the dark strip of hair disappearing below his boxers. I grasped my bottom lip with my teeth and crooked my finger.

He removed his boxers. Malice was big, and I wondered if we would fit. He sensed my doubt. Or was it my wide-eyed stare?

“I’ll be gentle. I promise, Rue. Or we can stop. I can wait.”

I could never say no to Malice. I opened my arms to him. He clamped his mouth on mine and made love to me in the open. The blanket under me was as soft as his mouth was on my skin. He dropped kisses from my forehead to my inner thighs.

Soft and gentle, those kisses. It wasn’t enough. I wanted urgency and craved it so much that I rushed him. I told Malice we didn’t need to use a condom. I promised him that I took my birth control pills like clockwork.

Memories of that night were destroyed when I dropped the news that I was pregnant. The anger on his face…

Oh, God, I can’t catch my breath. I slow my breathing, hoping it slows my heart rate. A muscular arm slides across my belly. Coarse hair tickles my skin.

The past fades, and the here and now is a harsh slap in the face. I don’t ever want to be Malice’s regret again.

10

RUE

“Malice, we, I mean, what I did got out of hand. You scared me, and teasing you was my way of getting back at you.”

“I deserved everything you gave me. I’m sorry, Rue. I should’ve given you fair warning.”

I had expected him to say something like, “I told you so. You’re nothing but a good-for-nothing tease.” Instead, he surprises me, and I hate surprises. This one threatens to melt my heart.

“Who are you, and what did you do with ‘I-never-apologize-because-I’m-never-wrong’ Malice Sterling?”

Large fingers grasp my chin and turn my head to the side. “I’m right here. And yes, I’m sorry.” His lopsided grin makes my heart melt further.

---