“For what?” she asked as she folded the sheet and coverlet down from his shoulders again. Then she looked down and noticed the silhouette of his hand over his groin. A brilliant blush filled her cheeks but she continued smiling at him, merriment in her eyes. “It’s a totally natural reaction. Must mean you’re really on the mend.”
She bit her lip as she glanced at his groin again and her eyes rounded as she lifted each arm to place it on top of the sheet, revealing the clear outline of his shaft. It seemed to throb visibly and he had to resist fidgeting and possibly stimulating it even more as her gaze rested on it.
He nearly swallowed his tongue when she licked her lips. “I have dark-colored, patterned coverlets like these to offer my male customers some camouflaging privacy. Most of the time I don’t really notice, as long as the customer is nice and doesn’t try anything. But there’s just no missing that now is there?”
His cock twitched as though acknowledging a compliment. “I’m sorry. You want to stop? I’ll get dressed. We’ll forget I ever came in today—”
She laid her hand on his collarbone to halt him when he tried to sit up and looked him in the eyes. “Stop. Come on, Beck. It’s you and me, okay? Scoot down the table a little for me.”
He did as she directed, and she adjusted the sheet-covered padding to give him some support under his knees. He nearly broke a sweat as the movement stimulated his already strained control. “I wanted you—okay?” He couldn’t believe it when he blurted it out.
“What?”
“I wanted you that night. And I felt so damned guilty I hated myself for it. I had the engagement ring for the woman I loved—thought I loved—in my pocket and there I was, wanting you. To make it worse…I can’t dance.”
“You can’t dance? Wait! You wanted me?”
“Yes. I did. I was in pain, missing her, but you lit me on fire, woman.”
She came alongside him after getting everything situated and a smile crossed her beautiful face as she held his gaze. “I did?”
“Yeah. I got called several names by Patrick that night after you walked away. I wanted to go after you but I couldn’t. I was confused. And that night last year, at Halloween, remember?”
The mortification on her face told him that she did.
“When that blonde witch loosened your corset strings?”
“Yeah,” she said dryly. “You called my breasts ‘tits’ and you smacked my ass. I wanted to bite you with my Elvira, Mistress of the Dark vampire teeth.”
“Oh yeah?” he asked with a chuckle. “I mighta liked that. I was just teasing when I said that to cover up how much I was enjoying helping you get laced back up. I still think you have gorgeous tits.”
“Say that word again and I may hurt you for real.”
“Really? So calling you ‘sugar tits’ is out?” he asked with a chuckle, grateful the mood seemed a little lighter…Or not so much when she leveled a serious, humorless gaze on him.
“I’m serious as a heart attack, Beck. Don’t be a dickhead.”
His levity plummeted and he realized that if it came at her expense it wasn’t worth it. “This is one of those times when you make allowances for me, isn’t it?” He smiled at her, hoping that he hadn’t really hurt her feelings.
Whatever she saw in his gaze must’ve convinced her. “Yes, this is one of those times.”
“I’m really sorry.” Chloe had never minded his risqué endearments. He didn’t particularly appreciate being called a dickhead but she had made her point. “I mean it. I’ll try to not use that word anymore.”
“Try hard.” She bumped his shoulder with her hip as she smiled and then went to work on his front half.
“Want the truth?” he suddenly asked, surprised once again at the confessions she was extracting from him with the massage.
Lucy ceased her manipulations for a second but then continued. “Of course I want the truth, Beck. Always.”
“I didn’t want anyone else touching you, helping you with your corset strings. Except maybe for Patrick, because I knew he cared about you a little by then.”
“Oh,” she replied in a barely audible voice. She slid her hand up to his collarbone and his throat. The touch was a gentle caress. He looked up at her through shuttered eyelids and she looked thoughtful, her eyebrows drawn slightly together. “I think that I misunderstood quite a bit of what you said or did in the beginning.”
The warm knot in his chest increased as she gazed at him. He wished he could start all over with her.