Page 98 of Rules of Association

“Would you rather Ispit, Con?” I asked.

“Cee,” he hissed, biting my name off like a curse. His hands tightening along my body.

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” I said, but I couldn’t lie. I reveled in the reaction that got from him. His hands could span the width of my entire thigh and they did as he gripped me. I hummed as they rubbed against the soreness of my muscles.

I could feel his gaze on the side of my face as he rumbled. “Get your mouth out of it first.”

“Sorry,” I sighed. “I was in a zone.”

“You’re a pain in the ass, that’s what you are.”

“What? I was good all night!” I protested. Well I wasmostlygood with his friends. At least putting in a conscious effort to stop being so terrible after I realized I was forcing Con to take up for me.

Still, he shook his head. “You weren’t being you.”

“Hmm.” I wrinkled my nose. “I should have just said ass, huh?”

His chest bounced as he rumbled out a soft laugh. His hands making another pull up and down my bare legs. “Yeah. Nose was a decent save, but we all knew what you meant to say.”

I laughed a little too, feeling instantly lighter being in this little cocoon he’d made.

“You left, Cee,” he pointed out in a soft voice. It wasn’t accusing, it was just there. But it instantly made me feel bad.

Deflating a little, I sighed. “I’m sorry, I just needed a break. We can go back now."

“No, everyone left. I told them I’d tell you goodbye from them,” he said. “It’s just you and me now.”

“Okay,” I said and for some reason I finally allowed myself to sink back into him, feeling exhausted. His soothing hands ran up and down my thighs like he was trying to comfort me without even knowing anything was wrong. I think he could just tell. What he couldn’t tell was how the feel of his big hands on my bare thighs did things to me that I really needed to get checked out.

Another low hum rose in my chest and Con tightened his arms around me, lowering his voice even more. “Tell me why you left.”

“I felt like I was imposing.”

“That’s never stopped you before.”

“It’s different when it’s you. I didn’t want to cause trouble.” I was whining. Why was I whining? Were his hands pulling it out of me? Or was it the close proximity to his body?

He looked at me knowingly and I smiled weakly. Nope. It was neither of those things. It was just the comfort of him.

Him, him, him.

Because with him I could even be the sides of myself I didn’t like, and I knew it was okay.

“I don’t want to causeunintentionaltrouble. Not for you,” I amended, knowing that look. It had the word‘bullshit’written all over it.

Beneath him, I tried not to snuggle into his warmth, or relax my legs into spreading as his hands lingered there. His voice got darker. Hands going nowhere, definitely not leaving my body. “So you were just going to leave with some other guy, huh? When I’ve been waiting for you for all this time.”

I stiffened, his word choice giving me this cagey alert feeling. He kneaded my thighs with big soothing palms that I enjoyed more than I should.

“That’s pretty bold, Cee.” He squeezed my flesh hard as he growled, and dammit, it felt good. Missing absolutely nothing, he squeezed again and after hearing my hiss, he murmured, “Sore?”

“Mhmm,” I answered, my head tipping back just slightly to lean against him. “I started boxing lessons twice a week and my body hurts.”

“Hmm,” he said. Running his hands up and down the length of my legs again. I think he did it just to get another hum out of me. When I gave him one he smiled as he rumbled an approving, “That feel good?”

Um, hell yes! It felt mind numbing. It felt like I needed to feel it again and again before he moved on to more needy places and started from the beginning. It felt like I needed to feel thiseverywhere.

But that was the crazy talking. And I blamed it on his voice. That voice had gone straight to my center, causing me to squirm. He took it the wrong way, like he was hurting me or something, and switched to rubbing his fingers back up my thighs in a softer motion.

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