Page 71 of The Progressions

I had time to run home and make dinner for my dad and me before…oh, good grief, before I snuck into the Wequetong Inn. It would be fine. I would just follow the instructions that Tyler had gotten from César Hidalgo about where to park and who to text once I was at the back door, and then I’d go sleep with him without any emotion at all.

“What’s got you so jumpy?” Dad asked when we sat down at our table to eat the meal I’d prepared.

I dropped my fork and it clattered against my plate. “What? Who?”

“You, Kasia,” he told me.

“I’m not jumpy, I’m fine.” And I wasn’t distracted enough that I missed how he wasn’t eating much, despite our recent trip to the nutritionist. “Please finish that,” I said, but then my mind flitted off to how I would try to fix my hair like Miss Gail had done it…

By the time my dad was asleep and I was dressed in Iva’s clothes, I was nearly crying again, and there was no reason for that. I was going to do something that millions and millions of people on the Earth were probably also doing right at this moment. It was normal, not anything to cry over, and on top of that? I really did look terrible and not at all like a social media star when I got overwhelmed by emotion. The tears and snot would ruin the makeup I’d worked on in the bathroom and I couldn’t open the window to get fresh air because it would ruin my hair.

I drove much faster than Tyler ever did and reached the Wequetong Inn sooner than I’d meant to, so I had to sit in the parking lot until it was the right time to text the night manager. She opened the door and smiled. “You’re César’s friend?” she asked softly, and I nodded, like I was supposed to. “He was so generous around Christmas,” she whispered, and I would pass that hint along to Tyler. We crept through the quiet back rooms, past the dimly lit kitchen, and to a freight elevator that carried us up to a storage area filled with towels and cleaning supplies.Then she looked into the hallway before pointing out where his door was propped open. It like being a spy and I would have loved it, if I hadn’t been so anxious.

I burst into his room and he turned and smiled. “You made it,” he said.

“Yes. Here I am, ready.” I expelled a breath and threw my coat on a chair.

“Is that Iva’s top?” he asked. “You look very cute in that.”

“I’ll take it off right now,” I said.

“I’m happy to help.” He stepped over to me, but he smoothed his hands up and down my arms instead of ripping away Iva’s shirt. “Relax,” he told me. “It’s funny what makes you get nervous. You were raring to go hunt down a thief this afternoon, but you’re worked up about sleeping with me.”

“It’s…” I shrugged and stopped. It just was.

“Did you bring what I asked?”

I nodded and took my autograph book out of my bag. “Why did you want this?” I wondered.

“Because.” Tyler sat down on the bed and I sat next to him. “You got a lot of guys to sign,” he mentioned as he flipped through the pages.

“I know. My dad and I went to Fan Day every year.” Since he’d done it with my mom, too, he allowed himself to have the experience. “There, that’s you.”

“To Casha,” he read, and winced. “Sorry.” Then he reached for something on the nightstand, turned slightly, and appeared to be writing or drawing.

I tried to peer around his broad back. “What are you doing?” I asked.

“I’m fixing it,” he explained. “You can look at this tomorrow morning.” He closed the book and returned it to my purse. “Now we’ll take off that top.”

He kissed me as he did, and he was careful because it was Iva’s—but clothes started to fling everywhere. “I wanted to see you,” he told me. “I wanted to touch your skin and not just your best outfit.”

That consisted of three pieces because there was a matching vest, and I was so glad I hadn’t worn it tonight. Iva’s clothes were sexier and much easier to remove, as were Tyler’s t-shirt and jeans. He looked just as good as I remembered from when he’d been in that bathtub. No, he looked even better because there were no bruises due to other Woodsmen hurting him, and I kissed where those had been and rubbed my cheek against his skin. I bit him gently, too, and he picked me up and tossed me back onto the mattress. It made me laugh and cover my mouth since we were supposed to be quiet tonight.

“Kasia,” he said, looking down at me and smiling. “It was worth the wait.”

“We only started kissing a few days ago,” I pointed out as he moved up toward me.

“I’ve been imagining you for weeks, though.” He reached behind me and unclasped my bra. “Weeks,” he repeated, his eyes on my breasts. Then he said, “Mmm,” and bent to put his lips on them. I turned on my side to press myself toward his warm mouth and tongue.

It became clear that this was not going to be like my previous experiences. Tyler was working hard to show me exactly what he’d meant when he’d said that he wasn’t selfish—and he wasn’t. He touched me carefully until I gasped, “Do it more, please!” and then he kind of…lost it.

“Kasia,” he rumbled, and flipped me onto my back. His hands were everywhere, not gentle anymore but it felt so overwhelmingly good. He combed through my hair and molded his palms over my neck and shoulders while his mouth was back on my breasts and nipples, suckling. My hips jerked and I wrapped my legs around him as I used my arms to hold him closer and get even more.

“Shh,” he reminded me.

“Was I being loud?” I slurred back to him. My words had scrambled on their path down from my brain.

“I like that you like it.” He moved his body between my legs. “This all looks great to me,” he commented, and his palms slid to my inner thighs. He laid a straight line of kisses from my bellybutton down to my clitoris, and then he licked that and I knew I was loud. I put my knuckles against my lips and tried not to scream, and somehow that made the pleasure intensify. When he started to suckle there, my mind went past the pointwhere I could think at all—I shook through my whole body. It felt like the entire planet was dependent on Tyler and his mouth, that we were all swirling in bliss and it centered on what he was doing with his tongue.

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