Page 54 of The Pretenders of Copper County
I finally moved down between his spread legs and ran my tongue up his shaft while watching his face. He squeezed his eyes closed, threw his head back, and made a low, guttural sound.
So I did it again. And again. I finally lifted it up and sucked the tip into my mouth, reveling in the salty tang of him and the warm press of his length on my tongue.
I sucked and licked him, learning what he liked and what made that sound come out of his throat. When Reed’s hand cupped the back of my head and guided me gently, I purred in satisfaction.
“Just like that, baby. So good. Fuck. Just like that. Your mouth… fuck, baby…”
Once his mouth opened, words began spilling out. They warmed something inside of me and only made me want to please him more. It was exciting and satisfying to bring him pleasure the way he’d done for me.
I reached up and cupped his balls in my hand. He made a choking sound and warned me to pull off. When I didn’t, he pulled me off and yanked me up his body to crash his mouth onto mine as the hot wetness of his relief landed on my hip.
He kissed me for several more minutes as his body periodically shuddered until finally, he pulled back and moved to get off the bed.
“Please, Reed,” I whispered, trying not to sound desperate and awkward. “Don’t… don’t leave? I… will you stay with me?”
He brushed the hair back from my forehead and gave me a small smile. “I’m just going to get a cloth to clean you up first.”
I let out a breath and lay back against the soft bedding.
When he returned from the bathroom, he laid myglasses carefully on the nightstand next to me before cleaning me up with a wet cloth and climbing into bed again.
Later, after our nap, we kissed some more. I made a quick dinner, and we kissed again. And this time, when it was time for bed, Reed didn’t bother pretending he’d be sleeping on the tiny sofa. He climbed right in beside me, took me in his arms, and kissed me one last time.
As I drifted off to sleep, I felt different, somehow. Freer, maybe.
And I was sure everything had changed for the better.
Everything hadnotchangedfor the better. The next morning when I woke up and leaned over to give Reed a good-morning kiss, my entire head throbbed like the bass drum in a marching band, and my throat was on fire.
“I’b fide!”
“You’re definitely not fine. You’re staying here and resting today,” Reed pronounced. He pulled the quilt up and tucked it more firmly around me… which was really unnecessary since he was perched on the bed near my hip wearing nothing but a pair of cargo shorts, and the sight of his bare chest already had me uncomfortably warm. “I’ll get you some cold medicine while I’m in town.”
I sniffed, hoping I sounded offended rather than miserably congested. “But… but I wanded to come wid you.”
I’d had big plans for the trip, too. Plans that involved letting Reed go to the hardware store while I dropped by the library to chat with Ms. Dorian and maybe, sort of… use one of the library’s computers.
I knew Reed would lose his mind if I suggested gettingwithin ten feet of the internet… but I’d also learned that Reed was overly cautious about everything when it came to me. He didn’t think I was capable of climbing ladders, or using a circular saw, or even talking to friendly O’Learians without winding up in grave danger, let alone googling unsupervised.
I wasn’t stupid—I wasn’t going to make a Facebook post with my location and Reed’s identifying information, for gosh’s sake. I simply wanted to search my uncle’s name to see if there was any public information on his supposed criminal activities.
Reed’s Division contacts still hadn’t gotten me any of the proof I’d requested, even after five days of me pestering him and him pestering them, and I was antsy. It felt wrong to enjoy myself even a little (and yesterday, I’d enjoyed myself a whole lot more thana little) while Danny was maybe (okay, probably) in protective custody, all alone, and I hadn’t done a single thing to help.
“Mebbe if I had some hod coffee, I’d feel bedder—” I began, not ready to let go of my plans, but Reed shook his head like the conversation was over.
I sighed. I’d also low-key hoped the library might have a book or periodical calledTwenty Ways to Convince Your Lover that You’re Actually A Competent Person,but apparently, that would have to wait until Reed thought it was safe for me to leave my bed. There was some irony there.
“Or mebbe you could stay here wid me,” I suggested hopefully. “We could both, umb… rest?”
Reed lifted one eyebrow. “Both of us in that bed, huh? And you think you’d actually rest?”
I bit my lip at his flirtatious tone. Thatwasflirting… wasn’t it? In light of new information, Reed’s “pickup” back in Little Pippin Hollow had not actually been a pickup in the flirty sense, so maybe Van had been right when he said I had no clue what flirtation really looked like. But the implication of Reed’s words and the way the look in his eyes made my heart pound suggested this might be it.
I wanted to ask Reed if last night had changed things between us or if it was just a onetime thing, but I’d sort of figured he’d grunt a lot about adrenaline and professionalism. If he was flirting, though, maybe that meant he’d enjoy a repeat as much as I would.
“Sure I would,” I said. I tried for a flirty wink in return. “U-unless dere was someding else you wanted to do in dis bed, because if you wanded, we could…” I broke off on an utterly unsexy cough and managed to strangle out, “…do udder dings instead?”
“Udder dings. Tempting, but no.” Reed stood and shoved his feet into his boots. “You’re sick, Chris.”
