Page 69 of The Rogue

“Idon’tsuck in bed,” he said. “Because call me old-fashioned, but I don’t see the point in getting laid if my partner’s not having an even better time than I am. I get off on that, Ruby. Not that it’s any of your business. I want the girl to be having fun. If she’s not screamingsomething, probably notmyname because the chances are she doesn’t know it, it isn’t a good time. But most of those guys? It just isn’t how they are. You have to be realistic about that.”

She... flailed next to him, her fist hitting the door, her rage palpable.

“I don’t have to do a damn thing. And you know what, maybe it’s not even about having an orgasm. Maybe it’s just about feeling beautiful. Do you know how good that felt? To have two guys fighting over me? Do you know many times that’s happened in my life? Basically never. Maybe for me that’s all I need. Maybe it’s just as good.”

“Spoken like a woman who hasn’t had very many orgasms.”

He regretted that the minute it came out of his mouth. This was too dangerous tonight. Too dangerous with where his mind was at.

“I’ve had enough,” she groused.

“Let’s get one thing straight, Rue,” he said, right as they pulled up to the dirt road that would take them to King’s Crest. He chose that moment to slam his brakes on, the tires sliding over the gravel as the truck came to a very abrupt halt. “If I did have sex with you, we wouldn’t be done until you’d come at least three times.At least. Maybe even more, because we’ve got time to make up for, from the sounds of it. First, I’d touch you until you were shaking. Until you were begging. And then I’d let you haveone. Just to be nice. Then I’d lick you until you told me to stop, so you were crying and shaking with it. Then I’d do it again. And then... Only then would I give you what you really wanted. After that was done, you would never tell me again that you didn’t care about having an orgasm. And you’d never tell any other man that either. You’dexpectit. Because you’d know how it was supposed to feel. You understand me?”

He was breathing hard, and it wasn’t the only thing that was hard.

Hell.

He needed to get ahold of himself. He had made a big mistake saying that. But he couldn’t find any regret in his whole body. She had pushed him to this point, so she was going to get honesty. He was going to prove to her that she didn’t want it. Not really.

The way she was staring, all wide-eyed... And then she doubled over and threw up. Somehow, on his cowboy boots.

For. God’s. Sake.

She had just pushed him to his limit. Then she vomited on his shoes.

“You areso drunk,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice small and miserable.

“You silly little rabbit,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” she said, wailing.

He started driving again, taking them to the house. When they got there, he stepped out of the truck andkicked his boots off. Then he went over to her side of the vehicle and opened the door, unbuckling her and hefting her out, holding her like she was a baby, rather than a sack of potatoes like he’d done earlier.

“I’m going to put you to bed.”

“I’m not tired,” she said, sounding petulant now.

“You’re a mess is what you are, Ruby Matthews.” Right then, in the middle of all the anger, and all of the discomfort, something softened in his chest. Because Rue had never been a mess. And here she was, just a whole registered disaster.

“I’m going to tuck you in and then I’ve got to deal with the truck,” he said.

“No,” she said, wiggling, her body soft, enticing. He was ignoring all that. Because everything that had just happened was too many things, and he was just going to have to process all of it once he had actually dealt with her.

He kept a firm hold on her and got them through the front door, then carried her straight into her bedroom. She looked at the bed, then at him, her eyes wide.

“Oh, you’re safe from me. I’m going to drop you here. You probably need to go brush your teeth, though, but I have a truck to clean. I’ll see you in the morning.”

That was how he left her. He just wished he could turn off his own brain quite that easily.

Because what hehadn’tmeant to do was dirty-talk his best friend quite so well that it was all he could think about. All he could picture. What he hadn’t meant to do was get this far into the whole thing. Get this deep.

The problem was, he could imagine it all too well.And he had never wanted to. He had never let himself get this far. Yes, he had noticed she was beautiful. Yes, he had moments where that had felt a little more intense than he would like. But he had never let himself imagine it. He had never let himself get close.

Thank God she’d thrown up on him. It had been the reminder he needed that he was turning her down for a reason.

By the time he was finished cleaning the truck up at last he was exhausted. And when he went into the house Rue’s bedroom light was off. Everything was quiet.

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