Within seconds the kiss turned hot and heavy, an urgent melding of lips and tongues as she strained to get closer. Matt kept one hand steady between her shoulder blades, the other beneath her head as his fingers gripped a handful of her hair. With an impatient movement she reached for the hem of his shirt and stole beneath it, running her hands over his bare chest and belly, the little purr of female satisfaction she gave making the throb in his groin a hundred times worse. She tugged the shirt up his ribs and he released her only long enough to peel it over his head, flinging it to the floor beside the bed.
Briar took advantage of the position and straddled his thighs, leaning in to nuzzle his throat. She hummed against his suddenly hypersensitive skin, her tongue trailing over it seductively. She scooted to her knees and kissed her way down his chest while he cupped the back of her head in one hand and fought to stay still. Then her hand brushed against his covered erection and he struggled to stay coherent. It’d been around nine months since he’d last had sex, but even though he was desperate for this, knowing it was Briar’s hand wrapped around him, Briar’s mouth trailing lower and lower with each kiss, had every muscle in his body taut with anticipation.
She fumbled with the fastening on his cargo pants for a few seconds until he reached down and undid them for her, the sudden release of pressure on his throbbing cock a huge relief. Her fingers curled around him through the thin cotton of his boxer briefs and he couldn’t help closing his eyes and lifting into her touch. It felt so damn good, he wasn’t sure how long he could hold out once she touched him without his underwear in the way. Even as the thought penetrated the fog of lust, he cursed himself. He was fired up and ready to go but he had no idea if she was even half as aroused as him.
Wrapping his fingers around hers to still the way she was squeezing him, he reached his other hand up to trail his fingertips down the side of her face. She seemed to freeze in place, her gaze locking on his as though the tender touch surprised her. Matt maintained the contact. He didn’t want to fuck her, he wanted a much deeper connection. Did she?
Needing to see her face, he reached over and flipped on the bedside lamp. Briar flinched at the sudden brightness and averted her eyes. Again he drew his fingertips over the silky soft skin of her cheek, bringing her gaze back to his. The expression in her eyes was wary. Unsure. “What, honey?” he whispered.
As he watched, a blush bloomed in her cheeks. She broke eye contact, ducked her head a little. “The light.”
“I want to see you.”
A pause. “I’m…more comfortable in the dark.”
It surprised him that she was shy about her body. “Why’s that?”
She blew out a breath, gave a taut shrug. “It’s been a long time since I last did this and I’m…a little out of practice.”
Now it was his turn to stare. “That’s okay.”
She cast him another uncertain glance. “I don’t have a ton of experience.”
Her unexpected innocence and awkward confession were so adorable he felt his heart squeeze. “It’s been a while for me too,” he told her.
She met his gaze fully now. “Really?”
He nodded, tucked a lock of shiny dark hair behind her ear. “Better part of a year, and it was a one-time thing.” That wasn’t for him. He’d felt emptier afterward than he had before, the loneliness sharper, and now that he’d found Briar he wouldn’t settle for a fuck that merely took care of a base physical need. He had his own hand for that.
And he wasn’t going to let her make this just about sex either.
She seemed to relax at his words, relief bleeding into her expression. “Longer than that for me. My kind of work makes it hard to date.”
Matt huffed out a chuckle, amazed at the turn of conversation and his ability to find humor in this when his cock was aching this badly. “Yeah, I’ll bet.” He understood that she wouldn’t trust anyone easily given her line of work, especially the kind of trust that sex required. Good sex, anyhow. Had she experienced this sort of connection with anyone else before?
Her hair was shiny and cool to the touch. Felt good between his fingers. Then a disturbing thought occurred to him and he stilled. “You’re not just looking to escape right now, are you?”
“No,” she said, her tone adamant. “You make me feel things I…” She trailed off, a slight crease wrinkling her forehead, as though she didn’t understand her reaction to him.
“C’mere,” he whispered, cupping her cheek as he lifted up enough to kiss her, wanting to get her out of her head. She responded with a sigh and parted her lips to the stroke of his tongue. He seduced her with the kiss, caressing the inside of her mouth with soft licks, delighting in the tiny murmurs of pleasure she made and the way she wriggled impatiently, setting his body afire.