“I don’t want to wait.” Brushing her nose against his soft chest hair, she kissed his sternum, up to his shoulder, then nuzzled against his warm throat. He smelled like sunshine and warm skin and musky male. “I can’t wait.”
“Cherry.” Clasping her waist, he kept his tone far too calm and insistent. “You’re just getting over that bug. You need rest.”
She straight-armed him. “Listen up, Denver. You don’t just get to play with me.”
Eyes heavy, sensual, he slid his hands down and around to her behind to draw her closer. Bending, he teased soft kisses over her temple to her ear. “You like it when I play.”
Damn it, she did, but... “Not if you’re only going to frustrate me.”
Propping his chin to the top of her head, he hugged her. “It’ll be better if we wait, I promise.”
What if she waited and lost the opportunity? There was no guarantee that Carver’s bizarre torment wouldn’t eventually drive Denver away. She wanted to make memories with him, to soak up as much time with him as she could while the ugliness remained unconfirmed.
“Cherry.” With one hand, he eased the band from her hair, then worked her curls loose with his fingers. “I have a full day tomorrow that starts early with conditioning.” Those clever fingers continued on down her spine until he palmed her backside.
She rushed to say, “And I’m going into work tomorrow, too.” Tonight might be their best chance to be together until the following weekend.
That is, if Carver didn’t show up and nix the entire relationship.
Denver continued to tease his fingertips over her rear. The man did seem to have a fixation with her body.
He dipped lower, delved deeper, explored her. “What time do you get off?”
How could he talk while doing that? “Any minute now, if you’d just move those fingers where I need them most.”
He grinned down at her. “Cherry,” he chastised playfully.
She must be a masochist, because his denials only made her want him more. “Not until three.”
“I’ll be at the rec center then.” Watching her closely, he shifted and slid one hot hand into her pants, now doing all that tantalizing touching without any material to blunt the heat of his warm, rough hand.
And then he talked some more.
“Want to come there?”
Barely biting back a groan, she said, “I’d rather come here. Right now.”
He squeezed her cheek. “Gage will be there, so odds are Harper will be, too. You can hang out until I finish, then we can go to my place where there’s more privacy.”
She’d never been to Denver’s house and the idea appealed to her. “You don’t think this is private?”
He shook his head. “Fighters come and go here more than at the rec center.” He leaned down, his forehead to hers. “I need at least a few hours alone with you.”
“If you don’t want to have sex now, then why are you doing all this?”
“Seriously, girl?” He angled his head to study her while his fingers did some especially tantalizing exploring, making her breath catch. “You think I can be this close to you and not touch you?”
He said that with a straight face as if he expected her to agree! Swatting at him, her temper frayed, she stepped out of reach. “If you aren’t going to do anything about it, then you can damn well keep your hands to yourself!”
Satisfaction glittered in his mesmerizing eyes. “I’ll try.” Raising both hands, palms out, he offered compliance.
And damn it, she already missed his touch. “Are you sure I can’t convince you—”
“We both need some rest and I’m not into quickies. Not with you.”
Clearly, it was for her that he wanted to wait, no matter what excuses he gave. And that bit about visiting him at the rec center—he wanted her where he could keep an eye on her to know she was safe.
He didn’t yet understand that having her there would only endanger everyone else.
But she’d pushed him enough tonight. She wouldn’t beg for sex. She put her chin in the air. “Fine—but I’m agreeing under duress.”
“Noted, and I promise to make it up to you later. So.” Tentatively, as if he expected her to smack him again, he reached for the waistband of her sleep pants. “Mind if we lose these?”
She didn’t see the point, but only shrugged.
With a half smile, he said, “Thank you.” Pushing them past her hips, he let them drop in a puddle around her ankles. Holding her shoulders, he looked at her body with fixed absorption, as if this was the first time. After a deep breath that he let out slowly, he took her arm and led her to the bed.