“I’m scared, H.”
His breathing didn’t alter.
“About lots of things. Little things. Mostly, I’m worried about Celia—that I’m not strong enough to not let her get to me. Especially because she’s always been the girl that you should be with. In my head, she’s the one I picture you with. Everyone does. She’s perfect for you, from her manicured nails to her pedigreed upbringing. And, at the moment anyway, she doesn’t have a police record.” I smiled to myself, fantasizing about Celia pushing far enough that she’d possibly get a restraint against her.
Of course, she was a Werner. Her money and connections would never let that happen. I shared that fear with Hudson too.
It was so simple to tell him these things when he was sleeping. Not because it was difficult to talk to him when he was awake, but because his presence dominated so completely that I didn’t feel the need. It was when I was away from him that my thoughts tortured me most.
“I believe in us, H. More than anything. But do you? You used to tell me you were incapable of love. Do you still believe that? Or do you love me as much as I believe you do?” He curled into me, but it seemed like a reflexive move, not a conscious one.
As he turned, his phone fell into my lap. He must have fallen asleep with it in his hand. Had he been waiting for my call? I’d texted around midnight saying I’d be late. Had he gotten that message?
Curious, I swiped his screen to unlock it. My text message had been marked unread—he must have fallen asleep before that. No wonder he hadn’t texted back.
It was mostly accidental that I hit the recent calls button. At least, I told myself it was an accident. Immediately, the name on the last call caught my eye—Norma Anders. They’d talked for twenty-seven minutes, the call ending at nine-fourteen.
I reached over Hudson to put the phone on the nightstand then settled into his arms. He’d probably been talking to Norma about Gwen and her new position at the club, I told myself. Except Gwen hadn’t left the club until ten. She hadn’t made any calls or dismissed herself during that time, so Norma and Hudson couldn’t have known I’d offered the job to Gwen at the time of the call.
And the thing that really didn’t fit into the equation—why was Hudson the one who called Norma?
They work together. They were discussing business, of course. Because wasn’t nine at night exactly the time that a typical executive talked to his female financial manager? On a cell phone? From his bed?
Chapter Ten
I woke up with Hudson’s head between my thighs.
“Mmm.” His breath along my folds sent chills down my spine. I peered down at him through half-open lids, wondering how he’d gotten me bare and spread without rousing me until now.
He caught my gaze. “You didn’t wake me up last night.” He licked along my seam. “And I owed you.” His words were gravelly. I loved that I was the first person he spoke to most mornings—that his just-woke-up voice belonged to me.
And I loved what he was doing with his tongue.
I shivered as he caressed my clit with a long velvety stroke.
His head popped up suddenly. “Or would you rather I let you sleep?”
“No! Don’t stop.” I pushed him back down and stretched my arms above my head.
Hudson chuckled lightly. Then he attacked my nub with earnestness, in turns sucking and licking and swirling his tongue, exciting every nerve in my body. My insides clenched, and a trickle of moisture pooled in my channel. Overcome with pleasure, I wriggled underneath him, but his hands grasped under my thighs, keeping me still and at his mercy.
My breath came out in soft, jagged moans, and then in a gasp as his tongue moved lower, plunging into my hole. “Oh god, Hudson.” My hands flew to his hair. Though I’d never dream to control his actions—he’d do a much better job than I would—I loved pulling and tugging at his strands while he drove me mad with oral attention. While he fucked me with his tongue.
Then his mouth was back at my clit, flicking and dancing along my tight ball of nerves, and it was his fingers inside me, rubbing along my wall, stroking me in just the right place.
“Fuck yeah, right there.” My leg muscles tightened and my lower belly tensed as the pleasure built within me. The first wave of climax washed over me unexpectedly, much faster than I wanted it to.
“It’s not enough,” Hudson growled. “I need you quivering and out of your mind.”
I couldn’t argue if I wanted.
He renewed his assault with invigorated passion, adding a third finger, stretching and filling me with skilled strokes. He reached his other hand up to massage my breast through my clothes. I ached to feel him skin-on-skin but didn’t want to interrupt his rhythm to undress. Instead, I arched into his kneading palm while my hips bucked under his artful ministrations.