Strong And Sexy

Brody or Noah always said one of his many, many faults was being honest. Too honest. Brutally honest.

He couldn’t help it. Being honest was all he had. “Yes.”

“Are you still sleeping with her?”

“No.” Gently, he pushed the hair from her face, and when her eyes cut to his, he shook his head. “No. It turns out we’re…incompatible.”

She absorbed that, and processed. “As in she wants a relationship, and you don’t?”

“Yes.”

“Because you don’t do relationships, right?”

So he wasn’t the only one who could do brutally honest. “Not as a habit, no.”

“I do. But I’m bad at them, really bad. Guys don’t tend to stick, and I’ve always blamed them, but lately I’m thinking it’s me.”

Ah, hell. “It’s not you. You’re perfect.”

She shook her head. “Don’t say stuff like that to me.”

“Why not?”

“It makes me want you.”

“I thought we weren’t going there.”

“Well, there’s there, and there’s there. You know?”

He really didn’t, but she was looking at him so hopefully expectant, he nodded his head, which earned him a beaming smile.

“So you agree?” she whispered, not breathing, her mouth tantalizingly close to his, and then there was her warm, soft body, barely clad, lying against him.

He wasn’t breathing either. Did he agree? He hadn’t a fucking clue, but he nodded again.

“Oh,” she breathed softly. “Oh, I’m so glad.” And leaning in, she pressed her mouth to his jaw.

His world skidded to a halt.

“So glad,” she murmured against his skin, her hand coming up to settle on his chest.

And then, somehow, through the fog of sheer lust, he began to interpret. She was trying to seduce him, and she’d gotten shockingly far. The knowledge pretty much ensured that he went hard and stayed hard…

But then she reached out, presumably to touch the hair falling over his forehead, and caught him in the eye. “Ow.”

“I’m sorry!”

He’d been seduced before, but never like this, never in such a sweetly fumbling, klutzy manner, which was somehow far more endearing, more genuine, more real than anything he’d ever experienced. “Dani?”

“If you could just ignore me, that would be hugely helpful. Seriously.”

He pulled her hand from her face. “Too late for that.”

“No, it’s never too late. Really, just pretend I’m not here. Dying.”

“Dani.”

“Dani has left the building.”

He laughed. Laughed. He’d intended to keep his head about him, to keep that blessed distance she wanted so badly, and yet she’d wriggled, tripped, and fallen her way right into his heart. “Come here.”

“Really? Just for tonight? It has to be just for tonight.”

This time, he knew what he was agreeing to. “Whatever you want.”

She smiled, and he felt his control slip.

But just a little.

Chapter 11

Dani slid into Shayne’s arms and lifted her head for a kiss. She needed one, pronto. She needed that rush of adrenaline, that sense of floating, of delicious lust, and the knowledge that she could do anything.

Including seducing a man right out of himself.

It’d been a while, but she did remember the basics, plastering herself to his long, rugged length, making sure her breasts brushed his chest.

His bare chest. And wow, oh wow, was it some bare chest. With him in only his unfastened pants, she could take in all those muscles, and there was a lot of muscle. And then there was that six-pack, and the way his pants hung so low on his hips she could almost just dip her hand in and-

“Are you cold?” he murmured.

No, and that hadn’t been the question she’d been expecting. Maybe “are you on the pill,” or “would you like to move to some place more comfortable,” but not “are you cold,” because the truth was yes, she was a little cold, and a whole lot hot at the same. “I have no idea,” she said, just happy that they were on the same page, that they could scratch this itch and still be on the same page.

“Let me get a blanket-”

“No.” She didn’t want him to move. To that end, she wriggled. Wriggled one leg over his so that the T-shirt he’d given her rose up over her butt.

She knew she wasn’t exactly Miss America, but men liked butts, and if she could just get his hands on hers, things would probably progress pretty quickly.

She wanted quickly. So she wriggled again, and he caught her knee in his hand, making her realize she’d nearly caught him in the groin again. “I’m sorry.” A laugh escaped her, a very nervous laugh. “I swear I’m not out to hurt you.”

“Okay, good.” He brushed her hair from her face and looked into her eyes, smiling, but clearly just a little confused. “Maybe we could go over exactly what we are doing.”

“Well…” She wriggled again, careful with her knee this time. Leaning down, she thought to give him a kiss, because that would surely remind him-

They bumped noses.

Not letting that deter her, she changed the angle of her head, leaned in and-

Bumped his nose again. “Ohmigod.” Lightly slapping a hand on either side of his face, she held him still. Determined, she leaned in again, and found him-

Laughing.

At her.

Letting out a breath, she pressed her forehead to his. “Are you laughing at me or with me?”

“With you,” he promised. “Definitely with you.”

“Maybe you could do one more thing with me.”

“Anything,” he said in the most thrilling voice.

She executed another wriggle, complete with eyebrow arched that hopefully signaled “do me, do me now.”

But he, the most frustrating, patient man on the planet, just lay there.

“You know what I’m asking,” she finally whispered, beginning to sound desperate, even to her own ears. “You’re a guy. A really sexy, virile guy who has women calling him at the crack of dawn. You know.”

“Yes, but do you?”

“Do I know that I want to have just sex? Yes!”

“Are you sure?”

“Are you kidding me? You probably have women throwing themselves at you nightly. You probably never have to make the first move. And yet you want me to beg you.”

“Whoa-”

“Because believe me, Shayne, I’m this close to begging you.”