Page 64 of Rocky Mountain Desire
“I didn’t think I should ravish you.”
Hope stared for a moment. Then her hard punch to his shoulder—a serious, full-out blow—surprised the shit out of him.
“Oww.What the hell?”
“Don’t be an asshole.” She crossed her arms, but that only framed her breasts and he had to look up quickly to avoid getting distracted. Her eyes narrowed as she glared. “What happened to ‘there are a million things I want to do to you’? What about ‘I’m going to fuck your ass’ and ‘your body is telling me you want me in control’? You take some mind-altering drugs between yesterday morning and now that just kicked in?”
“Yesterday morning Helen hadn’t dropped back into our lives.” He regretted the words as soon as they escaped.
Hope froze. “I don’t understand. What does that have to do with anything? You mean the way you enjoy sex doesn’t apply anymore because my idiot of a sister returned?”
She would have leapt off the bed, but Matt caught her hand. “No, that’s not it.”
Hope jerked her arm, attempting to free herself. “What the hell is it then? Why all of a sudden are you acting differently?”
“Because…” Because he was afraid of losing her. “Just thought you’d like some tenderness.”
All the fight went out of her and she shook her head. “Oh, Matt.”
Hope crawled against him and laid her head on his shoulder, her arms going around him. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he just held on tight.
They were sticky from sex and his crazy impulse to cover her with his semen. Their heart rates still rushed—he felt the pulse of hers against his chest, although now it was probably more from her angry outburst than the frantic sexual release they’d enjoyed. Her bedroom curtain was open and the glow from the street shone into the room, meshing with her dim bedside lamp into muted mood-lighting.
Quiet. Back to the low-key and subdued situation they’d enjoyed before hitting the sheets, but something remained tight inside him. Fear, hovering like a carrion bird, ready to swoop down and peck at him if he showed any signs of giving up.
Hope pressed her lips to his cheek and his apprehension lightened slightly. At least she wasn’t kicking him out or punching him anymore. She worked her way to his lips, threading her fingers into his hair and drawing their mouths together. He tried to put his heart into the kissing—his tenderness and his caring. Under his palms, her shoulders and back relaxed as he cradled her, drawing circles on her skin.
When she leaned away, it was to give him a tentative smile. “We’ve been pretty damn honest with each other, haven’t we? Ever since you hauled me out of the ditch?”
“Like telling me you could handle my hard-on and it wasn’t anything special? Or that we weren’t going to fuck?”
That earned him a bit bigger of a smile. “Okay, maybe blunt is more the word I’m looking for.”
“Blunt I can agree with.”
Hope curled her hands over his shoulders and hung on tight. “Since we’re here, and not having wild sex and it’s kinda dark and all, can I tell you a really big, very blunt secret?”
Matt wondered where the hell she was going with this. “Do I need to grab the bottle of tequila for us to do shots to help with this truth session?”
She shook her head. “There is obviously no booze needed for me to be blunt, if our history has anything to show. Matt, I like you being in charge in the bedroom, and I’m not a delicate little flower.”
His breath caught.
Hope lifted her chin, turning her gaze directly at him. “I have enough I’m responsible for with the shop and the volunteering I do around town, I don’t want to call the shots in bed as well. But it’s more than that. I just…”
Matt wasn’t sure which way was up. He hadn’t freaked her out with his roughness, but his stopping? “What?”
She blew out a long slow breath. “I want you to do whatever you like. It turns me on big-time. I trust you. I trust you to take care of me and make me feel real good. You’ve knocked it out of the park as far as me being satisfied every time we’ve fooled around. And the idea of…God, this is so tough to admit. Maybe I’m broken, but I want you to just—take. Don’t ask, don’t try to temper your urges.”
He covered her mouth with his, savouring her taste all over. That was enough of a confession. He didn’t need further details, not anymore. He was still scared shitless that he would to do something wrong and tear them apart, and he’d be thinking long and hard about it a lot more in the future. But being handed the reins to their sexual adventures? Being told that was one area where he didn’t have to worry about going wrong?
Sweet relief and violent need swelled simultaneously.
Her cheeks were flushed red-hot from forcing the confession, but short-term embarrassment was better than having Matt act like some damn yo-yo in bed out ofconsiderationwhen that wasn’t what she wanted at all.
Honesty. She’d committed to it before, and as he kissed the living daylights out of her, she had to smile. The best policy ever? It certainly seemed that way.
Matt managed to get to his feet without losing his grip, lifting her and carrying her into the bathroom.
