“Did I please you?” he asked in a low voice.
“What?” The sudden change in topic threw her, that and his nearness. His scent enveloped her, warm, male, and familiar. It lured her libido right in. And the way he’d phrased the question—his words circled inside her head and held her in thrall. His eyes had also darkened. So … everything. Everything about him threw her. “What do you mean?”
“You wanted to start training immediately, so we started. I kept my promise.”
“Ah. Yes,” she said. “You did. And you pleased me. I am officially pleased.”
Nick slowly nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay,” she repeated, because she was apparently a brain-dead, sex-hungry parrot with damp panties. Lust filled the air with the promise of hot times ahead. She couldn’t be imagining it.
“Alright.” He swallowed and stepped back, dropping her hands. “We’d better get some sleep.”
Then the man turned and walked away from her, snuffing out the extra candles as he went, leaving only the one on the bedside table alight. He didn’t look back.
What the fuck?
Slapping her couldn’t have been more effective. For the second time that day, he’d said no to sex.
“Nick?”
“Yeah?” He sat on the end of the bed and tugged off his boots and the socks beneath, too.
“What’s going on?”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t understand what’s going on here.”
He shoved a hand through his hair. “It’s late. We should get some sleep.”
Clearly, they’d entered a different dimension, one where Nick didn’t want her. Except that couldn’t be right. He’d been plenty hard in the shop earlier, and his jeans sported an impressive bulge now. So, whatever his issues were, her sexual attractiveness to him didn’t seem to be a part of it.
Men were such complicated creatures. Women were so much more straightforward.
He grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged it off over his head. The revelation of his hard body made her swoon. The bands of muscle and the way they flexed as he rolled his shoulders. He had a certain grace to him, an efficiency of movement. She could watch him for hours.
“You want to sleep?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
She sat on a chair and removed her own brand new boots and comfy socks. Pulled her shirt off and dumped it on the small table. His gaze jumped to her, taking in the sensible cotton bra, but was hastily diverted. He scurried into the bathroom and she heard the sounds of him brushing his teeth. When he emerged he got straight into bed, climbing beneath the blankets. With eyes shut, he gave every appearance of settling in for the night.
So he missed the removal of the rest of her clothes.
“I guess you’re really tired,” she said, throwing back the blankets on her side of the bed. She climbed onto the mattress, clad in nothing but her own skin.
“A long day.”
“Yeah, it was,” she agreed.
His eyes shot open when her hand slid over his chest. The heat of his skin and hard flesh beneath felt sublime.
“I think I know what’s going on here,” she said.
“That so?”
“Male nipples are so nice.” She rubbed the side of her thumb over one hard nub. “Useless, but nice.”
“I can think of a use for them.”
“Can you?” She leant forward and lapped at one, secured her lips around it and sucked. His sudden intake of breath and muttered ‘yes’ curled her toes. Her pussy was swollen and slick. Ready. But she’d been ready for the better part of the day, damn him. She tightened her fingers in his chest hair and tugged, just a little. Giving him a small serving of her ire seemed more than justified.
Nick’s hand covered hers. “Ros.”
She moved onto his collarbone, tracing it with her tongue. “I think your delicate male pride was wounded when I chose the gun over you earlier today.”
He didn’t reply.
“See, this is a precarious situation we’re in, Nicky. Relationships don’t generally evolve from one party holding the other party hostage. Not healthy ones, at least.”
“You think we’re in a relationship?” he asked. His voice held no malice, but still.
Ros lifted her head. His forehead was furrowed and his fine lips were sealed tight. If only they’d stayed that way. He stared back at her, dark eyes unreadable.
“If mentioning that you abducted me and held me hostage upsets you, we’re not going to get very far.” Which was the absolute truth. She swung a leg over him, straddling his long body and seating herself atop his jean-covered hips. Actually, not a comfortable position. The zipper dug into her, raised as it was by his hard-on. She shuffled forward onto his bare, flat stomach. Much better. Nothing to chafe her there.