Claimed(58)

“They were all too terrified of my brother,” she admitted. “He had a strict hands-off policy when it came to me.”



“Yeah? So who was brave enough to face your brother’s wrath?”



“Timothy.” She blushed. “He was the cutest boy I’d ever met, and I had the biggest crush on him. And trust me, he wasn’t brave at all. I cornered him in the hallway after math class one day and told him that if he didn’t kiss me, I’d just tell D—” She halted. Shit, she’d almost said Dominik. “I’d tell my brother,” she quickly amended, “that Timothy had done it anyway, so since he was already going to get in trouble, he might as well get something out of it.”



Connor’s laughter was the sweetest sound she’d ever heard. “Jesus. Your first kiss was the result of blackmail?”



“Yep.” She offered a self-deprecating smile. “But it was totally worth it. It gave me tingles and everything.”



That got her another chuckle, and another happy squeeze of her heart.



“Did your brother ever find out?”



“No. I kept my mouth shut, and so did Timothy. It only happened once, though.” Sadness washed over her. “All the boys were too scared to be with me. It sucked.” She forced another smile. “What about you? Do you remember your first kiss?”



“Sure. It was with this girl Kara. We were both thirteen.” He grinned. “Snuck away from camp one night and made out in the woods for hours.”



She wanted to ask for more details – about his camp, his life, him – but his increasingly uneasy expression told her to tread carefully. Instead of talking, she bent down and kissed him again. Their lips met, just briefly, a soft brush of their mouths, and Hudson sensed it the moment he shut down. There was no outward change in his appearance, no stiffness in his touch, but something had shifted and suddenly he was out of reach again.



“Let me stay with you tonight,” she whispered.



The change was visible now. A tic in his jaw. A flicker of unhappiness in his eyes.



“Not a good idea,” he said roughly.



“Why not?”



“Because that’s not what this is about.”



She was so frustrated she felt like throwing something. Instead, she rolled off him and sat at the edge of the bed. “What is it about, then?”



“Fucking.”



The blunt reply shouldn’t have stung, but it did.



She couldn’t stop the bitter note in her voice. “I’m not in love with you, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m still following the rules you set, Connor. I just don’t see the big deal in sharing a bed.”



He sat up, and she noticed that his cock was still hard, which annoyed her. How could he be aroused right now? Didn’t he care that he was being… what? Rude? Disrespectful? But he wasn’t. He was simply being honest about what he wanted. He’d been honest from the start.



“I sleep alone,” was all he said.



That stung too, especially since those three words were the equivalent of a dismissal. “Fine. I guess I sleep alone too, then.”



Feeling more defeated than she ought to, she rose from the bed and ducked into the bathroom to find her clothes.



Damn it. She was getting too attached to this man. She was working too hard to “solve” him. But maybe there was nothing to solve. Maybe he really was a cold bastard who just happened to burn hot in bed.



Well, fine. She’d take it, she supposed. Stop pushing him, keep it just about sex, and take all the pleasure he was willing to give until she’d gotten him out of her system.



Anything more than that was an exercise in futility.



Connor waited until Hudson was gone before he stepped onto the porch and lit a cigarette. He didn’t smoke unless he was feeling rattled. And he was feeling pretty fucking rattled right now.



His shoulders snapped straight when he heard footsteps, then relaxed as Rylan’s shadowy figure ambled over from the cabin next door. The other man’s face was revealed in a flash of orange light as Rylan lit a smoke of his own.



“It’s okay to like her, you know.”



Connor frowned. “I never said I didn’t like her.”



“That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it. It’s obvious you like her. But it’s just as obvious that you don’t want to.”



His fingers tightened on his cigarette, nearly crushing it in half. “She wanted to sleep in my bed.” He kept his voice low so it didn’t carry in the night air.



“Lucky bastard.” Rylan sighed. “It’s been ages since I fell asleep tangled up with a woman.”