Page 101 of Ruin Me Gently

My chest tightened and a funny, weird little feeling settled in my stomach, throwing me completely off balance.

I exhaled sharply, shaking my head. “No, stop. It’s okay. I overreacted.”

“No, you didn’t.” His voice was firm, like it was a fact.

“Seriously, I did,” I said, patting the spot next to me. “Come sit down.”

He passed me the chips and sat the water down on the nightstand before sitting down beside me, the mattress dipping under his weight.

“So,” I said, popping a chip into my mouth. “This is your whole thing, huh?”

He turned his head, those pretty brown eyes watching me.

My stomach did five flips in a row. Damn him.

“What thing?” he asked.

I gestured vaguely between us. “Stalking a girl, giving her a mind-blowing orgasm, and a post-coital snack service. Very mysterious. Very generous. Do you leave Yelp reviews open for feedback?”

He scoffed, shaking his head.

Awkward.

Not bad-awkward, just new-awkward.

What was the protocol here? ‘Thanks for the orgasm, want a chip?’

I chewed, thinking it over. And that’s when I noticed it. His leg was bouncing. Just slightly. I bit my lip, fighting a grin. He was nervous. Big, brooding,follows-me-around-at-nightguy was nervous after he’d just been knuckle deep inside me.

“You okay?” I asked, nudging my knee against his.

“Yeah,” he said simply. “Are you?”

“No,” I admitted, huffing out a small laugh. “This is weird.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, amusement flickering in those eyes. “It is a little bit.”

The silence stretched a little too long, hanging thick and heavy between us, something unspoken pressing down on my bones.

He exhaled. “Okay, enough’s enough.”

“Enough wha—”

Before I could finish the words, he was on his feet, ripping the blankets back. And I barely had a second to process that before—oh,oh, shit—

I yelped as he hauled me backwards, manhandling me like I weighed nothing, tossing me against the mattress with a confidence that should not have been as hot as it was.

And then—then—he climbed in next to me. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like we did this all the time.

And right when I thought I’d reached my maximum holy-shit capacity, he grabbed the blankets and tugged them over both of us, tucking them around my body like some kind of overgrown, tattooed burrito artist.

What the fuck!?

To top it off, his arms then wrapped around me, pulling me in, pressing me against his chest, completely engulfing me in sage, sea salt and a wall of fabric covered muscle.

My brain was officially out of service.

It felt good. It feltwaytoo good.

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