Page 76 of Hide From Me

I knew it. I’m in, baby!

Shooting her a wink, I pull out the chair beside hers and make myself comfortable. It’s clear we’re not leaving for a while, but I don’t mind. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a space where I’ve felt completely comfortable.

As the four of us continue chatting and rambling, ignoring the dozens of guests scattered throughout the house, I get lost in the momentum of it all.

We’re laughing too hard to care when Raylen grabs my hand under the table and threads her fingers through mine. Her mom is mid-story about Raylen’s third-grade spelling bee meltdown, and I should be focused on that, but I’m not. I’m watching the way Raylen’s lips curl when she laughs, how her body leans into mine a little more every time I squeeze her hand.

“Come with me for a second?” she murmurs, standing so quietly that the rest of the table barely notices. But I do. God, I do. I know that look in her eyes.The kind that saysnow. That glimmer of mischief that’s always hiding under her lashes.

She tugs my hand, and I let her lead.

“You okay?” I ask as we slip out of the dining room and into the hall like teenagers sneaking out after curfew.

“More than okay.” She whispers more to herself than to me.

It smells like lilac and old wood the further we get up the steps the second floor hallway. Her childhood bedroom is at the end—white door, worn brass knob, a faded sticker half-peeled off the frame. She pushes it open without hesitation, flipping on a lamp. The walls are a soft lavender that clashes with everything I know about her. There’s a desk in the corner, notebooks still stacked, and a few awards tucked on a shelf like forgotten relics. Her bed is small, barely a double, with a comforter that’s floral and faded from too many washes.

It doesn’t suit her anymore, but it explains her.

The moment the door clicks shut behind us, I’m spinning her by the wrist and pressing her back into it.

“That was dangerous,” I murmur against her ear. “Bringing me here. Alone. Upstairs. After looking like that.”

Her breath hitches, and for once, she doesn’t shove me away. Her lips part slightly as I press my body against hers, one hand braced beside her head, the other skimming down her waist.

“You brought me in here for a reason,” I murmur, lips brushing her jaw. “So, go ahead. Take it.”

Raylen’s fingers fist in the front of my shirt as she pushes me toward the bed. It’s the same damn mattress she probably cried into as a teenager, and now she’s backing me onto it with a hunger that makes my pulse thrum.

She shoves me back until I’m sitting, then sinks to her knees like she’s done it a hundred times before, but the look in her eyes as they dart between mine says she hasn’t done this for just anyone. Her fingers move slowly over my belt, deliberate, reverent, like she's testing the waters.

“Fuck, Raylen…” I groan as she pops the button and drags the zipper down, freeing me.

“Don’t get all cocky about it,” she mutters, but her voice is low and tight with need. “Just consider it a thank you… for showing up.”

Before I can make a witty response back, her mouth is on me; warm wet and so fucking sinful.

She doesn’t tease like I'd expect her to. No, she swallows me like she’s starving, her throat working as she takes me in deeper, her lips slick and tight around the base. I hiss, fisting the sheets as her tongue traces every vein, every pulse point. Her eyes flick up, and it’s the sight of her like that—kneeling on a childhood rug, surrounded by relics of her innocence with my cock halfway down her throat—that makes my vision blur.

She moans around me, and the sound sends a tremor through my spine. My hand finds her hair, guiding her slowly and rhythmically, the pressure building so fast that it makes my legs tense.

“Ray… fuck—just like that,” I pant, watching her bob her head. “You’re so good at this. You want me to come in your mouth?”

She hums again in response, and it damn near kills me.

But then—right before I let go—she pulls off, dragging her tongue up the underside of my cock before flicking the tip and sitting back on her heels, lips wet, chest heaving.

“You’re such a tease,” I rasp, chest still rising and falling.

She shrugs like it’s nothing, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, but her eyes don’t leave mine.

“I didn’t always get to have control,” she says quietly. “So I like knowing I can take it now. Give it. On my terms.”

My stomach tightens, but something in me also swells. Its feels so fucking good knowing this is the same girl I finger fucked in the woods who didn't know what they wanted now so confident in herself, and me. That thought only lastsfor a moment before the light dims in her eyes, and my mind fully wraps around the fact that that lone statement means so much more than she's letting on.

I slowly tuck myself back in as I reach for her hand.

“You want to tell me what that means?” I ask carefully, my voice low. Her hands settle on my shoulders as she lets me pull her into my lap, straddling me.

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