She finally peeks up and looks back and forth between the two of us. “You guys wouldn’t want me in the way…”
“I’d want you in the way,” Matt says, eyelids starting to drift down as his voice fades. “All the way. Every way. Maybe even a threewa—”
“Okay now,” I interrupt before he gets a little too uncensored, slapping a hand over his mouth and using all my willpower for my dick not to react to where he was going there.
And great, Eden’s face is bright red now. I figure no way will she feel comfortable coming over after that—thanks so much, Matty, Jesus—but still, I really don’t like the idea of her all alone tonight after losing her home, so I give it one last try anyway.
“What my boy was trying to say,” I start, clearing my throat, “is that you wouldn’t be in the way, Eden, for real. Matty and I are roommates, so I’ll keep him in line, and his place is actually disgustingly clean and well-decorated, despite my best efforts to convert the whole place into a man cave.”
Matty mumbles something that’s easy to ignore, since it’s in Spanish, and Eden giggles.
I grin, sensing a win. “It’s a three-bedroom,” I tell her. “And the extra room ain’t much, but if you don’t mind a weight bench in the corner, it’s got a bed and a dresser and clean sheets, and we’ve got every take-out menu in the city at your disposal.”
She cracks a real smile at that for some reason. “You… you really wouldn’t mind?”
“Not at all.” Which I mean with everything in me, one hundred percent.
“Then maybe… just for tonight?” she says hesitantly. “I can figure out somewhere else to go tomorrow.”
I’m not going to argue, but there’s also no way I’m kicking her out. Of course, it is Matt’s house, not that he ever lords that over me, but I’m pretty sure that even after the meds wear off, he’ll be happy to have Eden there—and not because he wants to get in her pants, although yeah, I can tell he wouldn’t mind that any more than I would, but because Matty’s a good person like that, and Eden—well, obviously I don’t know her, but Christ, I’ve cried in front of her already, and she’s good people, too, I can tell.
In fact, as she helps me deal with all the bullshit required to actually get Matty out of the place and track down that book of hers and pick up his prescription for new painkillers, it gets clear pretty damn fast that she’s a lot more than just good people… she’s a godsend. A sexy-as-fuck blonde bombshell of a godsend that I’m going to have to keep reminding my dick is at the house for a reason—and that that reason does not involve us getting naked together.
Unless, you know, she wants to, of course.
5
Eden
There’s something about thinking you’re about to die that changes you, and tonight has definitely changed something in me. Of course, ever since I figured out that the women from my mom's family don’t make it past twenty-five, the knowledge has both driven me and held me back, and as I sit on the cute twin bed that these sexy saviors of mine have offered me for the night, clutching my bucket list to my chest, I think about that.
I’ve been driven to do a lot in my short life so far—I’m holding the evidence of it right now—but there are also things I haven’t seen the point of putting on The List. Long-term things that I’ve known just aren’t in the cards for me. Things like nursing school, settling down somewhere, letting myself get close to people who I know will just end up hurting when they lose me. So yes, knowing I’m going to die has changed me—or rather, it’s shaped me—but the immediacy of actually thinking that it was all going to end tonight is different.
I bite my lip, heart racing as I look at the closed door. Tonight has made me feel… well, not quite reckless, that’s just not me, but a little bit bold, maybe. Johnny was so sweet, all worked up about his friend and still trying to take care of me, too. And Matt, so strong when he needed to be back at the fire, and then so silly once the Tramadol kicked in. And both of them hot enough to make my toes curl… and interested enough, unless I miss my guess, to tempt me into doing something about it.
I put my book down and stand up on shaky knees, knowing that what I should feel right now is exhausted. When we got here, I helped Johnny get Matt settled in the master bedroom and accepted a wildly oversized t-shirt from him after giving in to a heavenly shower that I needed more than I’d realized. And now I’m supposed to be getting some rest. Sleeping off this traumatic day. Recouping and figuring out what I’m going to do from here, since I basically only own the clothes on my back, have nowhere to live, and it will probably be a week or two until I can sort anything out with my renter’s insurance policy.
So yes, exhausted would make sense… but what I really feel?
I bite my lip, remembering Auntie Maria telling me that if I got a chance to enjoy myself with a man, that I should go for it. And why not? Tonight wasn’t my time, and I’m more thankful than I should be, given that I know my days are numbered anyway, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are numbered. Would it really hurt anything to take her advice?
I open the door before I can second-guess myself, my heart pounding out of my chest as I strain to hear whether or not Johnny’s still up. If I’m honest—and I know this probably doesn’t sound good—I’d take either of these two boys if the option were on the table, but Matt is out for the count, and there’s no part of me that’s disappointed at the idea of getting to know Johnny a little better.
I blush, twisting my hands together in front of me as I pause in the middle of the hallway. Getting to know him better? Oh, Lord. If I can’t even be frank about what I want in my own mind, how am I ever going to start something with him? So okay… I actually wouldn’t mind getting to know him a little bit better, that’s true, but what I really want tonight is something else.
I want to sleep with him.
I want him to take me.
I want to give in to the kind of erotic fantasy I’ve never indulged outside of the privacy of my own mind, and have him fuck me senseless.
“Eden? You need something?”
“Eep!”
I squeal like a little girl when Johnny pops around the corner, clutching my chest and suddenly all too aware that the t-shirt he loaned me is all I have on. It comes down to my thighs, so I guess you could say I’m decent, but I’m also fresh out of the shower and not looking even remotely like a seductress.
Oh my God. I can’t do this.
“Eden?”
“I… I’m hungry,” I blurt, which is another thing that should be true, given that I never managed dinner, but now my stomach is so twisted up with nerves that I couldn’t eat if you paid me to.
“Oh, yeah, of course,” he says, smacking his forehead. “Man, I can’t believe I didn’t offer you anything. But this whole night, you know?”
“It’s okay,” I say, feeling bad for making him feel bad, but he’s already taken ahold of my arm and is leading me into the kitchen, and I go with it, because I did just say I was hungry… and maybe, if I’m honest, also because a part of me is hoping I’ll find the nerve to follow through with my original plan, too.
Because, wow. Johnny’s dressed for bed, too. Soft, low-slung sleep pants and nothing else, and the boy is built. I guess firefighters have to be—isn’t that why they invented calendars?—but seeing his big arms, bigger chest, and eight-pack abs in the flesh has my whole body flushing hot with a flashback to how it felt to be wrapped in those arms back in the hospital.
How good pressing up against him had felt.
How right.
“Eden?” Johnny says, jerking my attention back up to his face. His strong jawline is covered by a golden scruff, and it frames lips almost too plush for a man.
“I’m sorry, what?” I say, having no idea what he was asking me.
He laughs, but there’s a definite spark of heat in his eyes as he scrubs a hand over his face. “Just asking what you’d like to eat. Truth is, me and Matty do more take-out than actual cooking, but I mean, th
ere’s some cold pizza?”
Pizza? It would sit in my stomach like lead.
I shake my head.
“Oh, uh, okay,” he says, a little flustered as he turns and opens the fridge. “Um, we’ve also got—”
“You,” I say, my core tightening with excitement as I watch his ass flex under those soft pants.
He whips around to face me, that spark I saw a moment ago igniting into something hotter. “What?”
I shiver. Anticipation. And then—
“I want you,” I say, like I’m someone else completely. Someone who says things like that. And then I lick my lips, because he just looks so unbelievably good, and now I really am hungry.
“Yeah,” he says, his voice going low and sexy and doing things to me that make me want to crawl all over him. Then he shakes his head and rubs at the back of his neck, looking away. “I mean, uh, it’s a natural reaction to stress, right?” he says. “Adrenaline does that to—”
Oh my God.
I’m mortified.
He doesn’t want me.
I’ve swum with sharks. I’ve gone cliff diving. I’ve hiked into a volcano. But I can’t face this, I just can’t.
I turn and run.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Eden,” Johnny says, catching up to me just as I reach the guest room. He wraps those big arms around me from behind and pulls me back against his chest, physically stopping me. “Hey, now,” he says, his deep voice low and soothing and moving over me like a warm wave. “I didn’t mean to scare you off.”
“I… I’m not scared,” I whisper, because it’s the truth.
More embarrassed than I’ve ever been in my life? Check.
Also more turned on than I’ve ever been in my life? With his big, hard body plastered against me from behind, my breasts resting on his crossed arms, his hot breath tickling my neck… big check.
I want to melt back against him. I want to feel his hands on me. I want those lips… I want them everywhere.
“Eden,” he says, shifting slightly without letting me go.
And oh my God, I feel it, growing against my lower back. He does want me.
“Johnny?”
He groans, arms tightening deliciously around me. “I wasn’t sayin’ no,” he says, which sends my heart rate rocketing. “I just… I wouldn’t want you to feel like there was any expectation, what with you staying here and all.”
I wiggle around until I’m facing him, loving how good it feels that he still doesn’t let go.
“I don’t feel like that,” I say, breathless. It’s true, though. He’s been nothing but sweet. “And I’m not usually like this. I don’t… I don’t do this,” I add, feeling my face flame with heat. “But right now, maybe it is adrenaline—” it’s not, but how would I explain anything else? “—but if you wouldn’t mind, Johnny, I’d really like—”
“Mind?” he says, eyes sparkling as he laughs. And then those huge hands slide right down my back and over my ass and find the hem of the shirt he loaned me, and then they’re on my ass.
He groans again when he finds me bare, and the hard length of his cock jerks against my stomach, and I gasp, my pussy flooding with slick heat. And then before I can even blink, he’s hoisted me up against him, just lifted me clean off the floor, and he’s kissing me. I wrap my legs around his waist and hold on for dear life, feeling like things just went from zero to sixty, fast enough to make me dizzy.
And I love it.
Oh, Lord, do I ever. Johnny can kiss, and those big hands holding me up? That hard body flexing and straining against mine? I don’t even realize he’s moved until he lays me down on the bed and covers me with his body, plush lips leaving mine and trailing over my jaw and down my neck as he pushes the shirt up higher, exposing me.
“Oh, Christ, Eden, you’re killing me,” he says, fingers splayed across my hip as he rears back to look at me for a minute. “This shirt is ruined for me now unless you’re in it.”
I bite my tongue to keep from pointing out that it’s threadbare and that I’ve got no makeup on and that I feel both silly and self-conscious with him staring down at me like this. But then he puts his other hand on me, too, framing my stomach between them and rubbing his thumbs across my skin so slowly it makes me quiver, and he’s looking down at me almost worshipfully… and suddenly I don’t feel silly at all.
I feel wanted.
I feel sexy.
I feel wanton and bold and so, so turned on I don’t think I can stand it.
“Johnny,” I whisper, arching up so that I press into his hands and—who am I right now?—opening my legs wider in invitation. “Please.”
His eyes flare with heat, and he pushes the shirt up until it bares my breasts. “This what you want, princess?” he asks, cupping them in his hands and rolling my nipples between his fingers.
“Yes,” I gasp, heat shooting straight to my core.
“You sure?” he asks, giving me a wicked smile as he slides one of those big hands down over my stomach to rest on my mound, the heel of his hand pressing right into my center. “Because I wouldn’t want to neglect this.”
I shake my head, not saying no. “No,” I manage. “Please don’t… don’t neglect… ohhhhhh.”
He’s not neglecting me. Not at all. His hands are magic, moving over my body firmly… slowly… relentlessly. Every touch reassures me that I was wrong. Johnny does want me. And he’s ramping up a fire inside me that I can tell is going to get out of control if I let it.
And oh, I want to let it. I want to just let myself go with him. Let this be a guilt-free pleasure that I can get lost in. Let him have his way with me because even though we just met, there’s something about him I trust.
Trust him to take care of me.
Trust him to pleasure me.
Trust him to know what I need, even when I can’t bring myself to ask for it… just like he did when he chased me down after I bolted from the kitchen.
“Johnny,” I whisper, reaching up to run my hands over the hard ridges of his stomach. Skimming them down toward the thick ridge of his cock where it tents the soft material of his sleep pants.
I stop at his waistband and he shudders, so I rake my nails over his tanned skin, feeling bold.
“Jesus, Eden,” he groans, capturing my hand and moving it down over his erection. He pushes into my palm—hot and hard and throbbing, even through the pants—and groans again, throwing his head back and looking like some kind of sex god as he towers over me. “How far… how far do you wanna take this?” he grits, all those big muscles quivering as he holds himself still above me and lets me mold my hand around the shape of him.
His cock is huge. Thick and long and pulsing against my hand. I bite my lip. Is he really going to make me say it?
I squirm, looking up at him, and he grins, reading me like a book. What a perfect, perfect man. He pushes his pants down, cock springing free and slapping against his stomach, and I moan.
I can’t help it.
“Is this what you want, princess?” he asks, stroking himself as he looks down at me like I’m candy.
I nod. Oh, Lord, do I ever. He drops his hand, stroking my hips… my thighs… teasing and torturing me as he circles closer and closer to where I need some attention. My pussy is tingling, practically throbbing, and suddenly I want to say it.
“I want to feel you inside me,” I gasp, tightening my thighs around his thick legs because oh my God, as good as I feel right now? It doesn’t embarrass me at all to say those words, it just makes me feel hotter. Desperate, but in a delicious way that feels the best kind of dirty. “Fuck me, Johnny,” I pant as his thumbs skim the creases at the top of my thighs. “Please. I… I need you.”
“I’m yours,” he says, dipping his fingers inside me. Rubbing his thumb over my clit. Leaning down to capture my mouth when I gasp with the sudden jolt of pleasure, and then sucking my tongue in an erotic rhythm that has me writhing underneath him, one that matches the naughty things he’s doing between my legs.
&n
bsp; But he’s still not fucking me.
Oh, Lord, I want him to fuck me.
I’ve never wanted anything as badly in my life.
“Johnny, Johnny, Johnny,” I moan, rocking against his hand as he moves that hot mouth down to my breasts and starts teasing my nipple. Sucking it lightly. Circling it with his tongue. Biting—ohhhhhh. Biting it with just the right hint of pain to make the pleasure spike inside me and make me scream.
“Oh my God,” I whisper, freezing. Quivering. “Do you think Matt—”
“Matty’s totally out of it,” Johnny growls, looking up at me. “You go right ahead and scream for me, princess. I want to hear it over and over tonight.”
He rolls my nipple between his fingers before I can respond, kissing his way down my stomach, and I gasp.
Over and over? More than once?
But then he’s kissing lower, replacing his thumb on my clit with his incredible tongue while his fingers still work inside me, and suddenly I can’t think at all. I arch up against him, my hands scrabbling at the back of his head as my own tips back against the pillows and a whole litany of erotic sounds tumble from my mouth.
I’m begging him.
Making him promises.
Asking for more, more, more until suddenly it’s too much… too good… and I’m gone, pushed right over the edge and flying. Screaming again, just like Johnny wanted me to.
My thighs clamp tight around his head and my whole body shakes with the force of the kind of orgasm I didn’t even know existed. The kind that turns me inside out and forgets to put me back together again. The kind that definitely would have been on my bucket list if I’d even known such a thing was possible.
“Oh Christ, Eden,” he says, trailing hot kisses up my body until he finds my mouth again. “You are fucking beautiful when you come.”
I want to blush, but I just feel too darn good to bother. Languid and warm and just… just perfect. And then Johnny’s kissing me again, the musky scent of my own sex invading my senses as that big, hard body pins me against the mattress… as he rolls his hips into mine, sliding the firm length of his gorgeous cock against my soft folds… as he starts to ignite me all over again, until I’m moaning shamelessly and writhing underneath him, wrapping my legs around his hips and rocking against his hard shaft, letting the sweet, dirty words he whispers push me higher and higher and higher until I can’t stand it.
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