Page 127 of Overtime

My shirt is removed quickly, but not without getting tangled in my long hair. At one point I accidentally elbow Rob in the chin. Awkwardness turns to laughter when he throws the uncooperative item of clothing across the room like it personally insulted him. Laughter turns into more soft moans as his sure hands explore every inch of my bared skin while his mouth loves me in all the right places. Is there anything this man isn’t talented at? It seems unfair to the rest of the guys on the planet that one of their own should be so good at...everything.

His sure hands suddenly still, as does his skilled mouth. Rob’s chest is heaving beneath me, panting for breath in time with my own lungs. “Evie, is this my gift?”

It takes my brain a few moments to reboot from hazy lust into cold, hard reality. Rob’s hands are stilled over the clasp of my bra. The awareness of what he’s waiting for pours over me like an ice bucket challenge. Though I’ve shown him my scars, I’m still not comfortable enough in my own skin to put them on display very often. My own desire effectively extinguished is no problem though. It’s just the penalty I need to step up my game. “No, I had something else in mind.”

“Okay, baby. It’s always yours to give me. I’ll wait until you’re ready again.” Rob punctuates his whispered promise with a soft kiss to the shell of my ear. He straightens up, studying my face with curiosity. His large hands rub up and down my bare arms. “What did you have in mind?”

I have to play this carefully or he’ll shut me down before I’ve even begun. With as sexy a smirk as I can manage, I slide off his lap. Seduction isn’t necessarily the right angle. This is going to be a battle of the mind, if anything. “Take off your pants...please.”

I step back to allow him the room to stand. He complies without a word but raises his eyebrow as he unbuckles his belt and lets his slacks fall around his ankles. He makes no move to remove his boxer briefs but sits down again to await further instruction.

Slowly, I walk over to the door and flip the lights. The room is plunged into darkness. I have to wait a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dim light filtering in through the window from the streets below.

Rob’s laughter is nervous, matching the thumping of my heart against my ribcage as I return to free his ankles from his pants. I stand up and pretend to inspect him. Partly to give me time to solidify my game plan, partly to alleviate his discomfort.

He reaches for me, his large hands grabbing my waist and pulling me back between his knees. The stubble on his face grazes my stomach as he nuzzles his face against me. “Okay, eggs. Pay no attention to what mommy and daddy are doing. Just...take a nap or something.”

I laugh as he places soft, open-mouthed kisses all over my belly. My giggling stops when he unbuttons and slowly unzips my skirt. “What are you doing, Falls?”

He smirks up at me, that dimple deepening in his right cheek, as he works my skirt over my hips and pushes it down my thighs. “Fair’s fair, Mrs. Falls. I want you to be comfortable.”

I roll my eyes but concede this to him. Give and take is an important component of the end game tonight. With that mindset firmly in place, I let him pull me back onto his lap with the small modification of not straddling him. I can’t get distracted again.

He doesn’t even notice.

His lips are on mine in an instant as his large hands explore. One folds over my knee and slides slowly up my thigh. The other is tangled in my hair, holding my head at the angle he needs to kiss me thoroughly senseless. My opportune moment appears when he slides his mouth down my neck and presses his erection into my hip.

“Rob, I want to touch you.”

“Mmhmm,” he replies absentmindedly.

I’m going for the opening with the intent to score. Trailing my left hand down his chest and his abs, it takes every ounce of my self-control not to shudder at the strength beneath my fingertips. For as sexy as his stacked muscles are, old habits are also hard to break.

When my hand makes it to the waistband of his boxer briefs, he shudders beneath me. “Evie…”

When I slip inside the waistband, he moans. His face is still buried in my neck, but his tongue has stopped its assault. Hot, rapid puffs of air gust across my skin. Inching my way toward the goal, his breath hitches and stops altogether when I barely brush against his length.

“Evie, wait.”

I freeze. Never will I sink to the level of the nameless Barbie. Consent goes both ways. I’ll never go farther than he wants either. The very second he’s done with me, I’m gone.

I expect him to push me away, to finally realize that I’m so far beneath him.

He clutches me tighter, his stubbly face still buried in my neck. “Evie...before you go any further, I want to be crystal clear. First off, promise me you won’t be afraid of me.”

I don’t dare move, don’t even breathe. I’m a terrible liar.

He lifts up to look me in the eyes before gazing away and chewing on his bottom lip. “It’s such bullshit that I’ve been both fantasizing about this since I was fifteen, and yet terrified of this moment at the same time. If I could change it, I would. But I can’t.” He directs his blue eyes back at me. “I promise I’ll never hurt you. Please don’t be afraid of me.”

It’s only then that I realize what’s got him so nervous. Just when I think I can’t possibly be any more in awe of this man, he surprises me. “What kind of jock are you?”

A smirk pulls at his worried face. “Not the kind you think.”

I run my hands through his hair as his eyelids slide closed. “If it makes you feel any better, I really have no basis for comparison.”

His body vibrates with laughter against my own. “Thank God for that.”

“You know, most guys enjoy flaunting what you were born with or else spend their lives wishing they were so gifted. Most girls flock to it. Why not go with that?”

---