"Yes, God, yes. Eddie."
She came hard, nails biting into the backs of his arms, her body shuddering with the force of her climax. He followed her seconds later, the muscles of his belly and chest hard as iron as he rode the wave of his own pleasure.
Eddie dropped his head onto her shoulder afterward, his arms wrapping warmly around her. She turned her cheek to his chest and listened to the thundering of his heart, marveling that every time they did this she felt supremely close to him but also terrifyingly far away.
She wanted this with him so much - loved the way he made her feel - but she was scared to death of the other things it made her want, how weak it made her.
"What are you thinking about?" Eddie said, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I can hear your brain whirring."
"What are you thinking about?" she countered.
"That I never want to move," he said without hesitation. "That I'd stay like this forever if I could."
Her heart gave a painful lurch and she tensed, pushing away from him.
"You don't have to do that with me," she said, sliding off the counter.
"Do what?" He was frowning, his newly cut fringe flopping across his forehead.
"You don't have to fancy it up with sweet talk. I don't need word bouquets. I just want your cock."
Eddie's eyes narrowed. "What about my mouth? You seemed pretty interested in that last night."
"Okay, your cock and your mouth. But you don't need to dress any of this up. Not for me."
Eddie considered her for a long beat, then he turned and headed for the front hallway.
"If that's what you want."
It was her turn to frown. That was the second time he'd said that to her today, the first time being when she'd laid down the law regarding their friends-with-benefits arrangement.
"What do you want?" she asked, following him into the front hallway. She'd been so busy covering her own ass, it had never occurred to her to ask him before.
He was buckling his belt, but he glanced at her when she entered the small space.
"I just told you," he said.
She frowned, not understanding what he was talking about. Then she remembered his line about not wanting to move and staying entangled with her forever.
She pressed her lips together. "Right."
Probably he thought he was being charming, saying those kinds of things. Probably it worked with his other women.
Turning on her heel, she walked to her bedroom to collect her robe. Eddie had finished dressing when she returned, and they considered each other for a long moment.
"If we're going to do this your way, I'm going to need you at my place first thing next Saturday," Eddie said. "Don't bother dressing nice, because we won't be going anywhere."
There was a dark, wicked promise in his eyes, and her body responded predictably, getting wet and tight in anticipation of something that was a full week away.
Stupid body.
"Okay," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'll be there."
She knew a challenge when she heard one.
Eddie palmed his car keys. "Don't be late, or I'll come looking for you."
He exited, and she looked at her hastily abandoned clothes scattered across the floor. A shiver raced down her spine when she realized how quickly, how easily she'd conceded to his every demand.
Stooping, she began to set her world to rights.
It was a close run thing, but Eddie made it through the week. He stood under a lot of cold showers and went for a lot of long runs, but he made it. When Blue arrived on his doorstep on Saturday morning, he wasted no time hauling her over the threshold and hustling her into his bedroom.
The fact that she came willingly and practically tore his clothes from his body went a long way toward assuring him that he wasn't the only one regretting the stupid ground rules she'd laid down. It didn't stop him from being determined to honor them, though.
Blue didn't respond to pushing. If he insisted on scrapping the one night rule, he didn't doubt for a second that she'd use it as an excuse to pull the plug on their entire arrangement. No, Blue was the only one who could change or break the rules. Until then, he was bound and determined to give her what she thought she wanted, because he was bound and determined to get what he wanted: Blue.
That didn't mean he was above rigging things in his own favor.
On the first Saturday, he made love to her three times, the third time so thoroughly that both of them could barely move afterward. Blue was still dozing, her cheeks flushed from a climax that had left half-moon nail impressions in his back when he nudged her and tilted his head toward the clock.
"What?" she asked, her eyes heavy-lidded with contentment.
"It's nearly midnight. I'm happy for you to stay the night, but I know you have a thing about it."
Blue frowned. Then she pushed her hair off her forehead and sat up.
"I should go," she said.
He didn't say a word, even though he wanted to point out how freaking ridiculous it was for her to go when neither of them wanted her to.
After a long pause, she threw back the covers and slipped out of bed. When she was finished dressing, he pulled on a pair of boxer briefs and escorted her to the front door.
"Drive safe," he said.
She nodded, turning to go, but he blocked her exit with a leg across the doorway and pulled her into his arms for a goodnight kiss. She melted against him, and only the thought of his end goal made him break the kiss.
"See you on Monday," he said.
She blinked a few times, looking so out of sorts and short changed he almost laughed.
It wasn't really funny. If they were doing this his way, they'd still be in bed, and she would be in his arms. They'd stay that way till morning, then he'd take her somewhere nice for breakfast before maybe hitting the beach or doing something else lazy and relaxing together.
Together being the operative word in all of the above.
But Blue didn't want together. Or so she said.
He played dirty at work, too, recruiting Renarto and Raf to shoot hoops with him in the parking lot at lunch time and then making a point of dropping into the staff room with his shirt off to grab water to cool down.
He put in a lot of effort to stay in shape and he knew Blue was susceptible to his body because she'd told him so more than once when they were in bed together. So he worked it. He braced himself against the sink and flexed the hell out of his arms and shoulders while he "casually" drank a glass of water. He watched Blue out of the corners of his eyes as he wiped his belly and chest down with his gym towel. And he crowded her in the hallway when she happened to be there at the end of one session, brushing against her breasts "accidentally" in passing.
She broke on the Thursday, hauling him into a workroom and kicking the door shut.
"Don't think I don't know what you're doing," she said, hands on her hips as she confronted him.
"Whoa. What's going on?" he said.
"I'm not an idiot, Eddie. I know when I'm being played."
"I'm not playing with you," he said.
He wasn't, he was in deadly earnest. More serious than he'd ever been in his life before.
"What do you call this sudden obsession with running around with your shirt off, then?"
"It's summer. It's hot outside."
She advanced on him, the better to jab him in the chest with her index finger.
"Stop trying to change the rules," she said.
He held his hands out to the side. "I haven't said a word about the rules."
She glared at him, and for a moment he thought he was genuinely in danger of copping a punch to the face.
"But if you want to change the rules, I'm happy to talk about it," he offered hastily.
"Shut up, asshole," she said, then she fisted her hand in the front of his T-shirt and dragged him close for a kiss.
He had her up on the tattoo chair, her mini-skirt around her hips in no seconds flat. Conscious of the fact that they were at work, neither of them made a sound as he unzipped his jeans and pushed inside her. When she came, Blue pressed her face into his shoulder and bit him through his T-shirt, the pain spurring him on toward his own climax.
Afterward, he helped her tug down her skirt and straighten her bra.
"This doesn't mean anything," she said on the way out the door. "The rules still apply."
He didn't say a word. He didn't need to. Blue could fight against him all she liked, but she couldn't fight her own desire.
He gave her a minute to make her escape, then headed upstairs. Raf glanced at him as he entered the office, his gaze narrowing briefly as he took in Eddie's goofy smile and rumpled clothes.
"I take it the campaign's going well?" Raf asked.
"So far, so good." He'd filled his brother and Maggie in on his new strategy after he and Blue had returned from Albury, well aware that they were both worried and invested in what was going on.
"How long do you think you can do this?" Raf asked.
"As long as it takes," Eddie said confidently.