Page 23 of Control Line

Chapter Nine

Zee was rooted to her couch, torn about what to do. Either way, she couldn’t head to her room until she decided. Even if she decided to just close her eyes and go to bed, she’d face a bathroom door that wasn’t all the way closed.

Knowing what was on the other side of that door pulled a groan from her lips. Grabbing the nearest throw pillow, she held it tight against her face and growled at the unfairness of it all.

She’d met someone she was actually interested in on a level she’d never known possible, and they were both fucking train wrecks.

That’s a combo that never works well. Sure, the sex is usually hot and so is the mess, but it always leaves people feeling more fucked up than when they started.

But what if we start nothing more than what it is?Barney was not looking for anything more than a flirtation with benefits, and she was, well, her. Until she let go of Billy, she was unavailable, and that was exactly Barney’s type.

They could indulge in whatever the hell was going on and then in six months she’d have a new firefighter neighbor. One with boundaries, and she’d be that much closer to letting go.

Zee stood and nodded to herself. Yep, this was perfect. “We both get something we want and need with no strings.”

Opening her bedroom door as silently as she could manage, Zee crept inside like a cat burglar. As expected, the bathroom door was open about a foot.

“I can’t do this.” She did an about face and headed back out of the room. She didn’t get over two steps.

“Yes, you can. Sit down and relax, doll.”

“Oh shit, did I say that out loud?”

Barney’s booming laughter drifted in from the bathroom.

“Yes, you did. Now sit down and let go.” That was it. Nothing else come from the other side except the sound of the shower being turned on.

Zee was mortified, but not enough to leave. She sat in the armchair beside the bed. Which was coincidently positioned to give her an ideal foot wide view of the shower.

The bathroom was dark, but there was enough ambient light to see just fine. A full moon shone through the high window above the shower, adding a soft glow.

The sound of the water raining down drowned out the dull roar of her blood rushing through her veins.Whoosh, whoosh.

Her hungry eyes feasted on his body as he stepped under the steaming water. He didn’t bother closing the glass door, offering her an unobstructed view. The moonlight might as well have been a strobe light because everything seemed in stop motion or slow motion.

His face tilted into the water as masculine hands swiped up his face, across his scalp, and down his neck. They continued a path over his shoulders to the front. One hand reached out for a pump of body wash before rubbing against the other to form a masculine scented lather.

God, his hands are sexy. That was new to her. Zee’d never realized how erotic hands could be. But fuck her sideways and twice on Sunday if she wasn’t rubbing her legs together in time with his hand gliding along his chest and abs.

The man had yet to even touch his cock—which stood at attention begging to be included—and she was on the verge of shoving a hand in her shorts. It would take the slightest touch and she would rocket off the chair.

Soap bubbles gathered in the light brown hair and the silver piercing at the base of his cock.

A groan punctured the room. Her hand flew to her mouth when she realized where it’d come from. Surely Barney couldn’t hear it over the rush of the water.

One soapy hand finally wrapped around his impressive erection, giving it a painfully slow, lazy stroke to the piercings at the tip.

They both sighed in relief. “Tell me what you want, doll. Do you want me to come fast or draw it out so you can join me?”

She knew he heard her intake of breath his words caused. “The moonlight has me blinded to you, you’re just a shadow in the corner. Are you touching yourself?”

She refused to answer. It wasn’t embarrassment that held her tongue. She wasn’t sure what exactly kept her from answering.He can’t see me.The answer to his question was no, but it wouldn’t stay that way.

“Okay, doll, fast it is because I am thinking about you touching yourself and um, if that ain’t a pretty picture.”

Barney definitely knew what made him tick. He stroked his cock faster, twisting on the downstroke and squeezing his sac on the up. His breathing increased. He stepped out from under the fall of the water, giving her an even better view of the action.

The sound of her own panting was timed with the show he was putting on. Zee shoved her hand in her shorts, dipping two fingers quickly inside her aching pussy. This was not about the journey but the destination. Guiding those slick fingers up to clamp her clit between them, she began circling furiously.

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