Slowly, he inched his fingers toward her core, tracing her slit. She was wet and hot and ready, and he was so far gone he ached to slide into her warmth without wasting a damn second of their time together. But this was the one time he was letting himself have her, so it needed to be everything he’d dreamed of.
She needed to scream for mercy.
Hopping off the bed, he undid his pants and let them hit the floor. He kicked out of them and made quick work of removing the rest of his clothing. She watched from the bed, lifting up on her elbows and biting down on her swollen lower lip. There was obviously no need to hesitate at his nakedness. After years of friendship and that embarrassing moment on the couch, she’d seen it all now.
Once he was naked, he stood there, staring at her. “Too many clothes. Take them off slowly. I want to watch.”
“Uh…okay.” She let out a small laugh. “Seriously?”
He squared his jaw. If she wanted to fuck him, she’d get the real him. In bed, he didn’t mess around. He ravished his partners, in every way, and left them trembling. But as he drove them insane with need, he always remained in control. Never forgot where he was, or what he was doing, or lost his head.
With Lauren, it was even more important he do exactly that. If he let himself slip, or remembered how much she meant to him, then he might put too much feeling into this. Into something that didn’t need any feelings at all.
Sex was sex.
That’s all this was.
He lifted a brow. “Do I look like I’m kidding around? I want to watch you undress, and then I’m going to worship your whole delicious body. Everywhere.”
She swallowed hard, her tits rising and falling rapidly. “God.”
“Nope. It’ll be me in that bed, and it’ll be my name you’re calling out, not his, when I lick that sweet pussy of yours, and take you so hard you forget what it feels like not to have me buried inside of you.” He raised a brow and crossed his arms. “Is that going to be a problem for you?”
A small groan escaped her. “N-No.”
“Then undress. Now.”
Sitting up, she licked her lips. “Steven.”
“You’re overthinking this too much. Just take it off.”
Letting out a frustrated breath, she rose on her knees and gripped the bottom of her tank. She lifted it slowly, baring inches of skin at a time, but not nearly enough.
He held his breath. As much of his body as she’d seen, he hadn’t seen anything on hers that wasn’t normally covered by clothes. A bikini, at the least.
She could literally cut her clothes off of her with a pair of scissors, and it would still be the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. By the time the bottom swells of her tits peeked out, he clenched his fists and his breaths came out erratically. He’d never needed to see an article of clothing removed as much as he did right now. “Lauren.”
She lowered it, hiding her breasts from him again. At first, it appeared to be a slip of the hand, but then she smirked and batted her lashes. “Yes…?”
“Take. It. Off.”
She let it fall back into place, hiding all her delicious skin from him again, and cocked her head to the side. “Make me.”
He growled, forgetting his command for her to strip, and all the reasons why he had to treat this like every other one-night stand he ever had. He was supposed to be in control of this whole affair, and yet he didn’t feel in control.
At all.
She tried to scoot backward on the bed, away from him, but she was too slow. He easily caught up to her, grabbed her ankle, and yanked until she lay flat on her back. Her hair splayed across the bed, like some kind of brunette halo, and she watched him. His breath jammed in his throat. Her glowing blue eyes were filled with so much life, passion, need, and so much more he couldn’t even begin to describe.
His fingers flexed on her ankle, and he swallowed hard. He couldn’t do this. Couldn’t forget where he was. Or that this was just another—oh the hell with it. This wasn’t just another woman. It was Lauren. His Lauren. And there was no ignoring that.
Hell, he didn’t want to ignore it.
Grabbing the waistband of her shorts, he tugged them down her thighs with one harsh pull. She gasped and grasped his bare biceps. “Steven.”
“Yep, still me.”
Without looking at what presents he already bared, he yanked her shirt over her head, too, and finally…he looked. He’d waited so he could see the whole picture at the same time, with nothing in the way, and his patience was duly rewarded. After years of friendship, chaste hugs and kisses on cheeks, and clothes in the way…
It was his turn.
Her pale, smooth skin was flawless, and her tits were tipped with small, dusky rose nipples. Her waist was even smaller than he thought, even though he’d seen it millions of times before. Her hips flared out to ridiculously seductive proportions, and she had a light dusting of brown curls between her legs, but the rest of her was bare.