“Give me the key,” he said when I stopped in front of the door.
My friend kept the blinds closed in the apartment, so it was dark when we walked over the threshold. I would’ve preferred to keep it that way, but Tackle found a light switch and turned it on.
Before he could ask again if I was uncomfortable, I launched at him. When I practically knocked him over, I realized I may have been too eager. “Oh my God, did I hurt you?”
He laughed, steadied himself, lifted me in his arms, and carried me down the hallway, kissing me breathless as we went.
He eased us both onto the bed and immediately brought his mouth back to mine as we pulled at each other’s clothes.
He pulled away. “Sloane?”
I closed my eyes, silently begging, pleading, praying that he wasn’t about to tell me this was a bad idea or that he’d changed his mind. “What?”
“I don’t have any condoms.”
“It’s okay,” I said, trying to get out from under him.
“It isn’t okay. We can’t—”
“I do.” That wasn’t exactly true. My friend did. How did I know? I’d been looking for a Q-tip in the bathroom and was stunned to find an unopened box of size extra-large in the cabinet under the sink. I rolled off the bed.
“Wait.”
I couldn’t face him. “Tackle, please.”
“Please what?”
“Don’t.”
“Turn around.”
“Don’t,” I repeated.
“Please.”
I gripped the doorjamb and turned on my heel. I stood before him; the bottom half of my body was still clothed, and the top half was covered in only my bra. I crossed my arm over it.
His eyes met mine. “I just want to look at you. Drop your arm.” His eyes trailed down my face to my pink lace bra. “Take it off.”
I reached behind me and flicked the clasp. When it came loose, the straps slid down my arms. In the same way I’d launched myself at him, Tackle jumped off the bed, stalked over to me, and covered my bare flesh with the palms of his hands.
“You know how many times…Those damn bikinis.”
I might’ve laughed, but when he sucked my nipple into his mouth, all I could do was groan and grip his bare shoulders.
He covered my other breast with one hand while he unfastened my jeans with the other. “I need these off.” He knelt and pulled my jeans and panties down to my knees. “Getting a little ahead of myself,” he muttered as he untied my boots. “Hold on to me.”
I put my hands back on his shoulders as he took off one boot, then the other.
“Step out.”
When I did, he stood. I was completely naked, whereas he still had his pants on. I studied the cuts and bruises on his body.
“It looks worse than it is,” he said, perhaps feeling as uncomfortable with his partial nudity as I was with mine. “Where are the condoms?”
“I can get them.” Before I could walk away, Tackle grabbed my wrist. “Tell me where they are and wait for me on the bed.”
“Under the sink in the bathroom.”
He traipsed away while I pulled back the sheets and climbed under them.
When he came back in and set the box on the night table, he smiled. “You’re always hiding from me.”
“You’re the one who’s still wearing clothes.”
“Always teasing me too.”
Tackle dropped his pants, and like an idiot, I gasped.
5
Tackle
There wasn’t any question that me being naked in front of Sloane was uncomfortable—for both of us. It also didn’t come as a surprise that she wasn’t exactly the femme fatale she’d played herself off as when we got out of the car earlier. It was as though with every step she took, she turned into the shy eighteen-year-old I took to her senior prom.
That night, I knew she was innocent. It was obvious by the way she’d reacted to me holding her close when we danced. I could still recall the way her pupils had dilated and her breathing became labored the instant her body was flush with mine. She’d even apologized that her hands were sweaty.
But now, eight years later, she had to have had more…experience, right?
“Sloane—”
She bolted upright, reached for her sweater, and held it in front of her. “If you changed your mind, just say so.”
“Hey, now,” I said, gently pulling her back to lie down. I took the sweater from her hands and tossed it on the floor. There was no way I was going to change my mind, and I prayed she didn’t either. I’d come too close to dying, not just once, but many times. The plane crash had been the worst, though. I couldn’t imagine leaving this planet not knowing how it felt to hold Sloane’s naked body in my arms.
I leaned forward and kissed her. “I want this,” I murmured.
“I want it too.”
I smiled. “Good.”
She rolled to her side, took one of my hands, and put it back on her breast.
“You like that, huh?”
Sloane nodded.
“Me too.”
It wasn’t easy to take my time. I wanted to grab a condom, roll it on, spread her legs, and finally know how it felt to be inside her. But where Sloane had seemed in a hurry earlier, now she was taking her time, exploring me with her eyes and hands. As painfully hard as I was, I still had to let her.
“Your body…”
“What about it?” I asked.
“It’s changed.”
I leaned forward and swirled her nipple with my tongue. “So has yours.”
She ran her hands from my shoulders down the front of me, stopping when she got to my pecs. “Do you like this too?” she asked, running her finger around my nipple. She laughed when I grabbed her hand. “I guess not.”
“Too sensitive right now for that.”
I might be able to wait to sink my cock into her heat, but I needed to touch her. I trailed my hand down and pushed open her thighs.
“Oh my God,”
