Impulse

“It looks really red. You’ll probably have a bruise.”

“Bruises fade.” She stretched out on her left side, facing away from him. “If you think this is a bad idea —”

“What, us sleeping together?”

“Mmm. I’m feeling cuddly right now, but no blaming me if I wake up something else.”

He chuckled. “Aren’t we past dancing around it, Sera? If you wake up horny.”

She reached a hand to where he perched on the opposite side of the bed, her fingers barely reaching his hip. “I’m going to do what you asked. I’m going to just be. Come be with me?”

He clicked off the lamp and stretched out beside her. “I can do that.”

Sera curled to her side again and squirmed close enough to feel the warmth of his body. In the dark, it was easier to say the most important thing. “Thanks for listening. For letting me talk.”

His arm draped across her waist. “If you need to talk some more, you let me know. If you don’t, I’m good with that too.”

More words wouldn’t help, not now when she was still half-drunk on the defiant thrill of throwing the door open on all the skeletons in the Sinclaire family closet. She’d spoken about the past, and the world hadn’t ended. It was a start.

Enough for now. “I just need this,” she murmured, lacing her fingers with his. I just need you.

Julio’s thumb stroked over the back of her hand. “We’re supposed to leave tomorrow. Where do you want to go next?”

That slow, soothing touch would lull her to sleep soon enough. “Where’s Universal Studios?”

He laughed. “Orlando, I think.”

“That always sounded fun.” She nestled deeper into his embrace. “But I’ll go anywhere. It’s all an adventure for me.”

“We could head to Disney too. Get some mouse ears on you.”

It sounded sweet. It sounded fun, and she would have told him so, too, if she hadn’t been well on her way to blissful sleep.

Chapter Eight

He woke with Sera in his arms.

Julio buried his nose in her hair and inhaled with a groan. “You smell good.”

“I smell like you” was her husky reply. She tilted her head back, arching her throat toward him. “I like it.”

“I’m not that much of a narcissist.” She smelled like shampoo, sunblock and salt. “It’s got to be you.”

“If you say so.” Her eyes drifted open, sleep glazed but amused. “I slept like a baby in your guest room, you know. It smelled like you too. Just enough to know I was safe.”

“So you want to keep sleeping with me?”

She traced a fingertip along his collarbone. “You shouldn’t ask me that. I’d spend days in this bed with you, if you’d let me.”

His dick hardened. “Can’t. We’re checking out today. Still have a few hours, though.”

“Yeah?” A little wiggle, and she had her hip pressed up against him, rubbing teasingly. “Are you going to make me beg, or are you going to play with me?”

Julio slid his hand over her hip, his fingers brushing her stomach. “I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out what you need, the stuff you might not even realize.”

She caught his hand and held it in place. “Uh-uh. I don’t want to be screwed for my mental health. I don’t believe in sexual healing, and even if I did, it doesn’t sound very fun. Just be, right?”

“Just be.” He rolled her to her back and leaned over her. “I don’t want us to have sex because we woke up in the same bed. I don’t want to need a convenient excuse.”

Sera stared up at him, her face surrounded by wild strands of hair that had escaped her braid during the night. She took one slow breath, then another, as if she was working up the courage to say something. When she finally did, nervous vulnerability showed clearly in her eyes. “Promise me that you’re doing all this slow seduction and dominance stuff because you like it, not because it’s what I want.”

He could give her that. “I promise, sweetheart.”

Lifting her head, she brushed a soft kiss to his lips. “I said yes that first night. To everything.

I’ll tease and I’ll flirt, but I’ll do anything you want until you decide you don’t want that responsibility anymore.”

“I know.” What he didn’t know was whether responsibility was something he could ever walk away from again.

She was still watching him, wide-eyed and uncertain. “Did I—” Her teeth dug into her lower lip, followed by a quick swipe of her tongue. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” He indulged himself by caressing her cheek and jaw. “You did everything right.”

Her eyelids fluttered shut, and she lifted her chin into his touch with a quiet sigh of pleasure.

“Sometimes you touch me like I’m… I don’t know. Something good.”

“Only sometimes?” He’d have to do better.

Her nose scrunched up, as if she thought he was teasing her. “I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

She laughed and blew out a frustrated breath. “I don’t know what I’m trying to say. I always like the way you touch me, but sometimes it’s soft, but still strong.” Her voice fell to a shy whisper. “It makes me feel safe.”

It made him feel like he wasn’t running away after all. Like he was doing something right. “I think I get it.”

With her eyes still closed, she turned her face toward his hand. “Are you sure? Because if you’re not doing it on purpose, be gentle with me. My heart’s not as tough as the rest of me.”

Nothing seemed like a remotely adequate response. He could reassure her, but what did any of it mean? Either they were ready for it, or they weren’t.

He eased back. “I’m not doing it on purpose, but I can stop anyway. If that’s what you want.”

She swallowed and caught both of his arms, holding him in place. “No. Not unless I’m the only one feeling…something.”

Because he didn’t know what else to say, he kissed her nose. “Breakfast. Want to go out?”

“Waffles.” She wiggled out from under him and bounced to her feet. “With whipped cream and strawberries. And bacon. And coffee.”

“You don’t have to cook every meal, Sera. You should take it easy.”

She capitulated without argument. “Then you pick a place while I pack and take a shower.”

He’d fucked up, but he couldn’t help it. He’d been honest, and that was all he could do. “Take your time.”

“It won’t be long.” She paused in the doorway and smiled at him. “I still want waffles, though.”

When she’d gone, Julio sat up and curled his shaking hands into fists. He’d tried to go slow, to be careful, and it didn’t matter. She was open, vulnerable to him. That meant he could hurt her, and it was the last thing he wanted to do.

Panama City Beach hadn’t been a basket of puppies and rainbows, but the reception they got in Orlando was downright chilly.

A group of men were waiting for them at the hotel. Either someone was talking about Julio’s impromptu tour of the Southeast, or someone at the hotel recognized his name.

He sized them up as he unbuckled his seatbelt. “Stay in the car, Sera.”

Her gaze tripped over the wolves. “What do you want me to do if one gets past you?”