“I . . .” She glanced at his closet. “I saw what was in that tote on the top shelf of your closet. I wasn’t snooping,” she added quickly, knowing that was a bald-faced lie. “I just happened to glance up when the door was open one day weeks ago. There were some things in there . . .”
She waited, but he said nothing. His expression was still the same—unreadable—and the stirring in her belly started up, the kind that always did when he turned back into Sergeant Billings. It was usually a mixture of nervous but exciting anticipation. Right then it was mostly unnerving. “I was waiting for you to maybe share with me about them—”
“No,” he finally said, still staring at her very seriously. “I got rid of all those things.”
“But why?” As tense as the conversation was beginning to feel, she wasn’t backing down. “Obviously you had them for a reason. I’m not judging you or anything. I’m just curious.”
“Judging?” Now his expression was readable, but that wasn’t a good thing. She’d struck a nerve. “Is that why you think I didn’t tell you? Because I was afraid you’d judge me on something you knew nothing about?”
“No,” she shook her head, reaching for his hair again, but he sat up quickly. “I just wanna make it clear that I’m not asking because I had a problem with it. I was curious about it actually. I uh . . .” She swallowed hard, the unyielding hardened expression he now wore almost making her regret bringing it up. But she didn’t want to regret it. She wanted to be able to talk to him about anything. “I thought maybe you’d use some of those things on me.”
Finally his hardened featured gave way to a softer stare, but he shook his head. “Never,” he said with such finality it felt almost like a slap. “I’d never use those things on you.”
Just like that, he brought his legs over the side of the bed as if the conversation were over. “Wait,” she said before he stood up. “Why not? You don’t think I’m up for that kind of stuff?”
The unexpected smirk was even more insulting. Then he topped it off with small smile, shaking his head and mouthing, “No.”
He stood up, his hard body completely naked, making Regina lose her train of thought for a moment. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen him like this, but it took her breath away every single time.
“Ready for that shower?” he asked as if they weren’t in the middle of discussing this.
“No,” she said, completely irritated now. “You really think I don’t have it in me to do those things? I suppose you think only skanks like Serenity can think outside the box?”
His shoulders dropped dramatically. “Let’s not start with that, okay?” He walked around the bed, so she stood up, holding the sheet in front of her. “What are you doing?” he asked, looking down at her covered body as he approached her.
“It’s too bright in here,” she said sarcastically. “I’m not comfortable unless the lights are off.”
Unbelievably, he smirked again. “Since when?” he asked, tugging at the sheet, but she held it tight.
“Oh, don’t you know?” She took a step back. “I’m a prude. At least that’s what you seem to think.”
“I never said that.”
The continued smirk on his face was beginning to infuriate her. “Yes, you did. You’d never use those things with me, yet you had an assortment of them.” She backed up with every step he took forward until she was backed up to his bed. “Things you used with all those other women but with me—”
He lifted his fingers to her lips. “Shh,” he said gently.
She tried to move away from him, but there was nowhere to move. He had her backed up to his bed, and he pressed his body against hers. The sheet she held in front of herself did nothing to block what he so boldly and shamelessly pressed against her, considering the circumstances. “I never said I didn’t think you could handle it.”
“Yes, you did. I asked you if you thought I couldn’t and you said—”
“I meant, no, I don’t think that you can’t handle it.” He tugged on the sheet a little harder until it came undone and fell, leaving her naked and feeling completely vulnerable, not to mention confused over what he was saying. “That’s not why I’d never use those things with you.”
“Then why?” she asked, staring at his lips now, struggling to regain the conviction she felt just minutes ago.
“Because,” he brought his strong hands around her naked back and pulled her against him, kissing her softly, “I like how we do things now.”
She began falling into his amazing kiss like she always did but pulled away. “But what if I wanna try it.”
This close to him she saw the flicker in his eyes, but he managed to recover and took a deep breath. “It’s not anything I want to associate with you, babe.”
He started for her lips again, but she pulled away unconvinced there wasn’t more to it, that he really didn’t just think of her as the vanilla type only. If he’d been into that stuff enough to have a collection of things, how long would it be before he craved it again and became bored with the way they did things now?
Closing his eyes momentarily, he took another deep breath like the one he’d taken when she brought up Serenity. Once his eyes were open, he brought his face next to hers and whispered in her ear. “Close your eyes.”