Text (Take It Off #4)(37)
Author: Cambria Hebert

I needed a cold shower. But I wasn’t about to get out of this bed. I guess I was going to have to take my torture like a man this morning. Hell, I was going to like it.

Her skin was unlined and smooth, with cheekbones that were high and broad, creating a heart shape out of her face. Her lips were a pale peach color and were just slightly parted in her sleep. From this angle, it appeared the swelling around the bottom was gone.

Kissing her last night had been fucking awesome.

It took everything in me to restrain myself, but I knew I had to go slow. We’d only known each other for a short time and the circumstances of our meeting had not been… traditional. Some man had just abused her and I wasn’t going to push her any further than she wanted to go.

In sleep, she sighed contentedly, and I brushed the wayward strand of hair away from her face. A guy like me could get used to a girl like her.

Her eyes blinked awake and the blue orbs focused on me, her lips curling into a smile.

“Hey,” I said, brushing at her hair again.

“Hi.”

Was that a hint of shyness in her tone? I turned onto my side and slid down so we were face to face. Then I went in for a kiss.

“Wait!” she gasped, burying her face into the pillow.

“You didn’t complain last night,” I muttered.

Her giggle was muffled against the pillow. Then she said, “Mooony brooothhe.”

“What?” I laughed, trying to make out her words.

She lifted her face. “Morning breath!”

I grunted. “I got it too. Now come over here and give me a smelly kiss.”

“No!”

I arched an eyebrow, but she wasn’t looking at me. She was still hiding in the pillow. As gently as I could, I hauled her up across my chest and grasped her face between my palms. “Kiss me.”

I didn’t wait for her to obey. I went and got what I wanted. At first she tried to kiss me timidly, barely opening her mouth, almost giving me a chaste little kiss. Yeah, that wasn’t cutting it for me. So I kissed her one way and then changed direction and went the other. Using the tip of my tongue, I licked across the center of her lips and she moaned, giving me the perfect opportunity to slip inside.

After that, she forgot about her supposed morning breath and kissed me with a reckless abandon that actually made me forget to breathe. I was a guy. I was supposed to be in control of the situation. But Honor had taken over the driver’s seat and was leading me around with every single stroke of her hot little tongue.

Her hands began to explore my chest and her feather-light touch drove me wild. I couldn’t help the way my hips thrust up off the mattress against her, and I froze when my erection brushed up against her belly. I didn’t want to scare her.

She didn’t act upset. In fact, she liked it. Her hips automatically drove forward to meet mine.

My eyes shot open.

Yeah, I was a strong guy, but I wasn’t a freaking saint.

I gave her one last lingering kiss and then pulled back and looked up into her face. Her cheeks were flushed and the swelling around her eye was almost completely gone.

I lifted my head and pressed a kiss to the corner where it was most bruised. “How ya feeling?”

She grimaced. “Sore.”

“It’s always worse the next day.”

She laid her head against my chest and groaned. Then she stilled. “What’s the matter?”

“You’re not wearing a shirt.”

“I’m offended you just noticed.”

“Oh, I didn’t just notice,” she purred. Her lips began pressing kisses up the center toward my neck.

I swear she left a trail of flames in her wake. I groaned. Heat licked up my thighs and my rock-solid length jerked in response. I don’t think I’d ever been so hard. It was almost painful. All I could think about was driving myself deep inside her until all the lust within me was spent.

When her teeth closed around my earlobe, I pulled her away. “You have no idea what you’re doing to me,” I ground out.

She smiled a lazy, sleepy smile. “I think I might have an idea.”

I swatted her bottom. “Get off me, woman.”

She titled her head and squinted at me. “You sure you’re not gay?”

I snatched up her hand and pressed it to the evidence of me not being gay. “Unless you’re secretly a really hot dude, then no, I’m not gay.”

Her eyes widened a bit and then her mouth fell open in a little O. “That’s, umm,” she said and cleared her throat. Then she giggled. “That’s some pretty large evidence.”

“Damn straight,” I said arrogantly.

“You sure you don’t want to stay in bed?”

I couldn’t believe the words that were about to come out my mouth. “Yes. I’m sure.”

She made a harrumphing sound and rolled over. I got out of bed before I dove myself at her and did what I told myself I wasn’t going to do.

I looked down as I stood. The tent in my pants wasn’t something I could hide. Damn. I was going to be frustrated all damn day now. I went into the bathroom and splashed some ice-cold water on my face, rinsed out my mouth, and used the facilities.

It was chilly this morning so when I came out of the bathroom, I snatched up my shirt and yanked it on. Honor was still in bed.

“My entire body feels like a giant bruise.” She moaned.

“Up you go,” I said and lifted her off the mattress and held her in my arms. On my way to the door, she pointed to a pair of fuzzy looking boots.

“I need my slippers.”

I bent and she grabbed them, and then I carried her out into the kitchen where I deposited her on a chair at the table. “I’ll make you some coffee.”

She put on her slippers as she told me where she kept the coffee, and I got a pot brewing. The apple pie on the counter called out to me, and my stomach grumbled. As the coffee brewed, I spied the bottle of pain meds the doctor gave her at the hospital, and I set them in front of her along with a glass of water.

“Those will help with the soreness.”

Dutifully, she swallowed her pill and then I poured her a cup of coffee and handed it to her with the creamer.

“You’re a pretty handy guy to have around,” she said, stirring her coffee and creamer together.

“I know.”

She laughed and it made me turn my head to look at her. She looked tiny sitting there at the table with her hair all a mess and a steaming mug cradled between her hands. Even with bruises on her face, she was beautiful to me. Without thinking, I strode across the room and swooped in to plant a lingering kiss on her cinnamon-flavored lips.