It was tempting to see just how far she could push him, but the possibility she could end up being the one totally sexually frustrated was enough to make her release him.
He kissed her again before making his way down her neck and to her breasts. Taking his time, he teased her nipples with his tongue and teeth until she was digging her nails into his back.
One of his hands slid between her legs and she moaned when he simply brushed over her clit with the heel of his hand and kept going. His fingertips bit into her thigh as he sucked one nipple deep into his mouth, but that wasn’t cutting it anymore. She spread her legs more, rolling her hips slightly off the bed as a frustrated sound growled deep in her throat.
Gavin just chuckled and for a few seconds she thought she was going to have to give the man directions, but then his fingers were back, stroking her slick flesh. She moaned and ran her hands up his back.
“You didn’t think I’d skip one of the best parts, did you?” he asked, and she could hear the humor in his voice. He was teasing her, and she would have slapped his ass in punishment, but she couldn’t reach it anymore since he was kissing his way down her stomach. “Don’t you trust me, Cait?”
“Getting there,” she said through gritted teeth as the heel of his hand pressed against her clit.
Her pulse quickened as he slipped a finger inside of her, and then his mouth was there and, holy crap, he was not a man who needed instructions. He licked and sucked her clit as he worked another finger in, and his other hand gripped her hip to hold her still when she lifted them off the bed.
She thought it would be a courtesy—a quick check to make sure she was ready before getting down to the real business at hand—but Gavin didn’t stop. When she groaned, grasping his hair where the cowlick stood up, he moaned against her and sucked harder.
Even when the orgasm hit, he didn’t relent until it was over and her body relaxed on the bed. He kissed the inside of her thigh and then lifted himself enough to grin at her.
“Damn,” she whispered, trying to get her breath back.
“I told you we’d work off two slices of pizza,” he reminded her, his eyes dancing with heat and mischief. “One down.”
When he trailed his fingers lightly down the back of her leg, Cait tried to brace herself, but when his touch hit that tender spot behind her knee she made a squeaking sound and tried to pull her leg free.
Gavin’s victory shout made her laugh, even though he wouldn’t let go of her. Holding her down with one hand on her hip, he gripped her calf with his other hand and lifted her leg until he could press his lips to that spot. When she squealed again, he laughed and then ran his tongue over the ticklish spot.
Cait squirmed, but between her laughter, her post-orgasm weakness and the fact he was maxing out her flexibility, she couldn’t get away from him. She had to settle for pounding her fist on his shoulder, trying to make him stop.
“I told you I’d find your ticklish spot,” he said when he’d had enough of torturing her.
“That was mean.” But she couldn’t stop herself from smiling.
When he tucked his hand under her thigh and danced his fingers south a couple of inches, as if he was going for that spot again, she laughed and scrambled away. In the ensuing wrestling match, he ended up on his back with her straddling him. Judging by the smug look on his face, that was right where he wanted her.
He reached over to the side table and grabbed the condom he’d taken out of the drawer while she was stripping off her jeans, and she tried to be patient while he put it on. But she was so ready for this.
Gavin did the guiding as she slowly lowered herself over him. It was exquisite, the sensation of being filled, and she savored it, taking her time. She watched his jaw tighten and heard the slight hitch in his breath as she rocked, taking him a little deeper with each stroke.
“Fuck,” he said in a hoarse whisper, as if the word was torn from his throat.
His fingers dug into her hips as she rocked, and he lifted himself enough to nip at her breast before dropping back. They both moaned when she ground hard against him, and then he grinned up at her.
Cait grasped his face, her fingertips making indents in his jaw as she tipped his head back. “See? I told you that you never take anything seriously.”
“Because I’m smiling?” He released her hips and slid his hands around to cup her ass. “I’m smiling because I’m the happiest fucking guy in Boston right now.”
She leaned down to kiss him and he took advantage of the moment to roll her onto her back.
Cait wrapped her legs around him and kissed him again until he thrust hard into her and she gasped. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, but he was looking down at her and she wanted the eye contact.
Each stroke came deeper and faster, until he reached over her head and grasped one of the slats of his headboard. Pulling himself with that arm, he drove into her until her back arched off the bed. She pressed her face against his neck, muffling her cry.
A few more hard thrusts and then he released the headboard to grip her hair as his own orgasm hit him. She cupped his ass, holding him close until the tremors passed and his breath came hot and ragged against her cheek.
He shivered when she trailed her fingers over his back until she could wrap her arms around his shoulders. With the hand holding her hair, he nudged her cheek until she turned to face him so he could kiss her.
Then his head flopped onto her shoulder and they did nothing but breathe and savor the aftermath for a couple of minutes.
She closed her eyes when he reached down to hold the condom as he withdrew from her with a reluctant sigh.
“Don’t move.” He was only gone for a minute, and then she felt the mattress dip as he climbed back into bed. Once she was snuggled up against him, with her head nestled in against his shoulder, he kissed her hair. “That was the best thing to happen to me in a long time.”
“Mmm.” She had to agree with that. “I probably could have had a third slice of that pizza.”
“Way better than going to the gym,” he said, starting to sound drowsy. “I only found one of your ticklish spots, though, so you’re going to have to go out with me again.”
“I’ll give you another shot at it, but no hints. You’re mean when you tickle.”
He chuckled, the sound vibrating through his chest, and then held her tighter while he shifted to get more comfortable.
After a few moments, Gavin’s breathing slowed and, though he wasn’t quite snoring, she could tell he was falling asleep. She should go now, before he was really asleep and her getting up disturbed him.
But she was so comfortable and her body so relaxed that she couldn’t force herself to move. Just a few more minutes, she told herself. Then she’d go.
Despite her resolve to get up and get dressed, Cait was almost asleep in Gavin’s arms when her phone chimed. She couldn’t stop the heavy sigh that escaped her as his arm loosened to let her up.
“Who’s that?”
“It has to be my mom.”
“It’s not like you’re a teenager with a curfew. You can stay if you want to.”
She wanted to. But she knew that text chime was her clock striking midnight. The ball was over and it was time to go back to her life. Hopefully with both shoes, though.
After fumbling on the nightstand, she retrieved her phone and read the screen. “My mom’s worried about Carter and just leaving him alone isn’t something she’s good at.”
“Speaking of Carter, he hasn’t reached out about basketball.”
“I’ll give him a nudge.” Sighing, she threw back the covers and put her feet on the floor.
Before she could stand, though, Gavin’s arm snaked around her waist. He kissed the base of her spine and she shivered.
“Text Carter and see if he’s okay. Then tell your mom to go to bed,” he murmured agai
nst her skin. “And you can stay in my bed.”
She didn’t want to explain to him that her mom wouldn’t have bothered her at all if she wasn’t really upset. And Carter’s moods being what they were, things between the two of them could blow up into an emotional shit storm with just a word or a look. It was easier to mediate between them now than to let it get worse and have to cope with the fallout of that. But she didn’t want to go into all of that while in Gavin’s bed.
“I have to go” was all she said. She heard him sigh, but he kissed her back again before withdrawing his arm.
He not only got out of bed and threw sweatpants on, but he pulled on a hoodie and shoved his feet into sneakers to walk her out to her car.
“You don’t have to do this, you know,” she said when he pushed open the building’s main door and the cold hit them.
“I want to.”
Cait had to admit it was pretty sweet, and she tried not to be too angry with her family for dragging her out of this man’s bed.
Once she was in her car and the engine was running, he leaned in through the open door to kiss her goodbye. “Call me tomorrow, if you get a chance.”
“If I’m free.”
He laughed. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”
“Nope.” She tugged on the front of his sweatshirt to get one last kiss and then pushed him back. “Go inside where it’s warm now.”
She watched him in her rearview mirror until he was out of sight and then tried to refocus her attention on the family drama waiting for her at home. But she was definitely going to call Gavin tomorrow.
She wanted more of him.
* * *
The calm before the storm—literally—really sucked, Gavin thought as they moved around the big double bay, doing final checks on their gear and the apparatus. It felt as if they’d already checked and rechecked everything a dozen times, but that was the job. When lives depended on the equipment, you didn’t let things slide or assume, because you hadn’t used something in a while, it was still in working order.
According to the forecast, freezing rain was going to hit the city just before lunch, and the long and boring morning was going to become a grind of MVA responses. And EMS would have their hands full with the accidents, along with falls and pedestrians hit in crosswalks by cars that couldn’t stop.
And thinking of EMS brought him right back to Cait. He shouldn’t have been surprised. It had been at least six minutes since he’d thought about her, so he was overdue.
He was trying his hardest not to be annoyed by her mother interrupting what had been an amazing night and making Cait leave. Family was everything and he could never see falling for a woman who didn’t share that value. When his own family needed him, he was there.
But his family didn’t need him all the damn time.
It was one thing when Mom’s car didn’t start or Jill had the flu and needed her kid picked up from school. Family did things for each other. But Cait’s mom and brother seemed to need Cait to fulfill that maternal role for them. He knew dating a woman with kids was tough. Dating a woman whose “kids” were her own mother and a teenage brother might be worse, because he wouldn’t have a lot of patience with a grown woman interrupting their time together because her teenager had a shitty attitude.
“You look pissed,” Grant said, interrupting that unhappy train of thought. They’d run out of things to do and were currently polishing the chrome on the trucks, which was the default busy work.
“No, just lost in thought.”
“So catch me up. Did the EMT toss your apartment, or what?”
“Her name is Cait, which you know. And no, dumbass, she didn’t toss my apartment.” She’d left his sheets smelling like her body lotion. Berries, maybe. Something sweet that made his mouth water.
“You left my place in a hurry so I thought you might be worried about it.”
“I left your place in a hurry because she asked if I had doughnuts and coffee, so I wanted to get her doughnuts and coffee before she left. And then we had pizza.”
Grant grimaced. “You had doughnuts and pizza? I’m confused.”
“We went to Brockton.”
“No shit. So you guys spent the day together, then?” Gavin nodded, but didn’t say anything else, which he could see was killing the other guy. “And...”
“It was a good day.”
“Gav, I’m not asking for locker-room shit here. You’re my friend and I don’t know what’s up with this woman. I mean, you guys didn’t get along and now you’re having post-doughnut pizza, of all things. Are you friends now? Hooking up? Dating? Am I getting a save-the-date card?”
Gavin laughed and chucked the balled-up rag at his head. “You’re such an asshole.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“Let’s just say she would have spent the night—with me actually there—if she hadn’t gotten a text from home and had to leave.”
“Okay. One more question.”
“Don’t make me hit you, Cutter.”
“Not that kind of question,” he said, holding up both hands. “Was she going to spend the night because you couldn’t find a smooth way to send her on her way, or because you wanted her to?”
“After she got the text from her mom, I tried to talk her into staying.”
Grant gave a long, low whistle and Gavin shrugged. “So it’s like that, huh?”
“I don’t know yet, but it’s not not like that.”
Scott, who’d been walking by with a compressor, stopped. “Do I want to know what you two are talking about?”
“Nothing,” Gavin said, at the same time Grant said, “His EMT.”
“I swear I’m going to hit you,” Gavin warned.
“Don’t,” Scott warned. “Trust me, Cobb hates that shit.”
Gavin remembered when Scott and Aidan had been called onto Chief’s carpet for throwing punches at each other at the ice rink. Scott found out Aidan had been seeing his sister behind his back and—since they were not only on the same crew, but had been best friends for years—he didn’t take it well.
Cobb definitely hated that shit.
“The rain’s starting to freeze on contact,” Scott told them, “so we’re about to get busy.”
“Knew it was coming,” Grant said. “We’re ready to roll.”
“Waiting sucks.” Scott shook his head. “I don’t mind a little down time, though. I’m still trying to figure out how to do the whole Valentine’s Day thing when my wife will be on the job for the entire twenty-four hours.”
“Oh, shit,” Grant said, mirroring Gavin’s thoughts. “When is that?”
“Next Wednesday, dumbass.” Scott shook his head. “The date never changes. And obviously this is why I have an awesome, gorgeous wife and you two idiots don’t.”
“You’re right,” Gavin said. “Women totally think it’s hot when guys panic and try to throw together romantic gestures at the last minute.”
“Next Tuesday would be last-minute, shithead.” Scott leaned against the truck and crossed his arms. “So what do you have planned with your EMT?”
“Her name’s Cait,” Grant muttered.
Gavin hadn’t even given it a thought. In the past, if he happened to be seeing somebody when the day rolled around, dinner and a box of chocolates generally sufficed. Generic Valentine’s Day stuff. But he didn’t want to give Cait generic anything. “I don’t know yet.”
“Neither do I. Maybe a gift certificate to a spa or a nail place or something?”
Imagining Cait’s reaction to him giving her a manicure for Valentine’s Day made Gavin laugh, and the other guys looked at him, clearly waiting for an explanation. “Sorry. I was thinking about something else. Does Wren like having her nails done?”
“I... Maybe? Her nails always look nice and when she paints them
red? Dude.”
“Not to rain on the parade of brilliance happening here,” Scott interrupted, “but gift cards are boring and not romantic. Especially when they’re for something she’ll do alone, later, when you’re not with her.”
Gavin tuned out the ensuing back-and-forth between the other two guys and thought about Cait. Did she have any Valentine’s Day expectations? She hadn’t said anything. A lot of women started dropping hints as soon as the calendar flipped to February, making it known they expected the day to be special.
It wasn’t going to be easy to plan what—or even if—he should do without some kind of definition to their relationship. They’d joked about the trip to Brockton being their first date, but they were closer than one date implied. Or at least he thought they were. If, in her mind, they were friends and the date was just a means to a casual hookup, then a big romantic gesture from him would be awkward.
And there was her family to consider. Maybe he didn’t want to move too fast until he got a better handle on how they would affect his relationship with Cait.
But she deserved something special, and he wanted to make the day special for her. He just needed to figure out a way to balance doing something special with not even knowing if they were at that point yet.
How the hell had his life gotten so complicated in three and a half weeks?
When the tones sounded, he shoved Valentine’s Day to the back of his mind. He was ready to go, so he climbed into the truck and started gearing up as the other guys hit the bay.
MVA with entrapment. Confirmed injuries. Multiple victims.
The storm had begun.
* * *
“I need coffee.” Cait tried not to cry or press her face to the glass as Tony drove by a coffee shop.
He shook his head. “If you have coffee, you’ll have to pee and we ain’t got time for that today.”
“Boston’s been a city for almost four hundred years. I shouldn’t have to go without coffee because people haven’t figured out the pavement gets slippery when the rain freezes on it.”
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