Page 18 of Tastes of Him
The sigh behind me shook me out of my staring match with the fucking bed that would be my downfall, and I glanced over my shoulder in time to catch Rod scrubbing a hand over his face. He looked tired, and I instantly felt bad about my reaction after he had just spent twelve hours ferrying us down the highway.
“We shared mine before,” he said finally before walking around me and setting his suitcase on the bed. “We’ll be fine.”
And I almost didn’t survive then, either.The thought of Cameran and Julie on the other side of the thin walls of Rod’s old apartment had been exactly what I needed to keep my cool when we shared a bed before, but it had still been a test of my will to not make a fool out of myself. More than once, I had woken up in the middle of the night either curled up against Rod’s broad back, wondering what would happen if I pressed my lips to his skin or with him draped across my chest, heavy in all the right ways.
The problem hadn’t been that it was awkward or uncomfortable. The problem was that it should have been butwasn’t.
And now here I was, facing the same problem again, but this time without the buffer of my best friend next door to keep me on the right side of the cross. I set my duffle down slowly, still eyeing the bed. It certainly did look comfortable, especially after spending almost twelve hours on the road.Maybe I could use some of the pillows as a buffer between us.
“I’m going to go shower,” Rod said, his voice pitched low, probably to keep from disturbing the other guests. We had gotten in after the sun had set. Thankfully the place had been easy enough to find with plenty of parking for larger vehicles. “You okay?”
I waved him off, having finally gotten control of my panic. “I’m fine, it’s all fine. I’ll call Cameran and let her know we’re here. Save me some hot water.”
Rod smiled before grabbing some clothes and making his way to the bathroom. When the door closed behind him, I let out the breath I had been holding and sank down onto the bed. I pulled out my phone, hoping that Cameran and Julie weren’t fucking. They were always going at it, and I knew they probably had to christen every surface after having not done more than kiss for the past week.
“You guys there?”
“Yeah, we’re here.” She didn’t sound winded, so I took that as a good sign. “But your brother didn’t tell me there was only one bed.”
I didn’t appreciate the laughter that followed my words. “Why is that a problem? You and Rod shared a bed at his place.”
“That was different,” I insisted, keeping my voice at a whisper so it wouldn’t carry over the sound of running water. “You and Julie were there.”
“So, you’re saying something would have happened if we hadn’t been there?”
Shit.“No, that’s not at all what I’m saying. I just—”
“Why don’t you just give in? Why are you making things so unnecessarily complicated?”Why indeed?“You like him. He likes you. Match made in heaven that I never want to hear the details to.”
I shook my head. It couldn’t be that easy. Nothing in life ever was. “It’s not like that.” Before I could say anything else to defend myself, the bathroom door opened, and I felt heat billow out around me. Rod stepped out, and all my other denials fled from my mind.
He was still wet, his rich sand-hued skin glistening with each drop of water. His hair was longer than it had been, and the tips of it curled slightly at the ends as water dripped from them. Without his glasses, he looked younger, and his dark brown eyes landed on me, even though I knew that from this far away, I was probably little more than a brown outline. Hopefully, that meant he wasn’t aware of the fact that my eyes were mesmerized by the drop of water starting a trail at his collarbone to slowly drift over his chest.
“Is that Cameran?”
“Yup,” I croaked out, jumping up from the bed. I held the phone out to him and tried not to let it show that my hand was shaking slightly. When he took the phone, our fingers brushed, and all I could think was hot, wet,soft.“I need…shower.” My words were garbled and probably made no sense, but I made my escape, opting to grab my entire bag and haul it to the bathroom with me.
I closed the door behind me and locked it before leaning on the bathroom counter. The man in the mirror taunted me with his shocked expression, and I quickly started the water again to keep myself from lingering on the memory of Rod’s six-foot-plus frame and what could have been lying in wait beneath the towel at his waist.
The water was still delightfully hot, and the water pressure had me groaning softly as it pounded away at my tense muscles. I didn’t linger too long and ignored my half-hard dick in favor of scrubbing the drive off my skin. I knew Rod wanted to get up and on the road at daybreak, so I got out of the shower much sooner than I wanted to in favor of going to sleep early. I wasn’t known for being a nice person when I didn’t get a full night’s rest, but I was trying really hard to not be an asshole, considering Rod hadn’t said anything about me driving or paying him back for the rooms he’d booked.
By the time I got out, my dick had gone blessedly soft, and I felt ready to face the prospect of again sharing a bed with him. That quickly changed when I opened the door and saw the feast of him spread out on top of the sheets like a goddamn centerfold. His chest was still deliciously bare, and with the pillows around him, he looked soft and devilishly inviting.
“Why are you just lying on top of the covers?” I croaked out, dropping my duffle by the wall before walking over and sitting down on the bed. I swung my legs around hurriedly, diving under the blankets in case little Sean decided to try to make his presence known again. “And where is your shirt?”
Rod looked down at himself. “I normally sleep like this.” He lifted a shoulder in a small shrug. “I only wore a shirt for the girls. Do you want me to put one on?”
“No,” I answered quickly. “It’s fine. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” Before he could respond, I drifted down until I was lying on my back and staring at the ceiling. I felt the bed shift, and suddenly, we were plunged into darkness. It was quiet except for the sounds of our breathing, and I tried hard to keep mine slow and steady and pretend I was asleep.
I must have drifted off at some point, even as tense as I felt, because when I opened my eyes, it was still dark, but instead of still being on my back, I was surrounded by warmth and mint. My head was tucked under a chin, and instead of jolting awake, it was like I slowly rose from a river of molasses. The hold on me tightened as I leaned away slightly. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t the sensation of lips brushing against mine. The cover of darkness lent a feeling of surrealness as I let myself fall into soft lips and breathy sighs. It wasn’t until the pressure increased, arms pulling me more securely against the hard lines of Rod’s body, that I realized that this was really happening.
The kiss wasn’t one I would have expected. When I thought of kissing Rod, it was always calm, solid, comfortable. This was not that. This kiss was plundering and greedy, and with each sweep of his tongue against my own, I felt myself falling that much harder. There was no teasing, no hesitance in how his arms wrapped around my back, sealing our bodies together from shoulder to toe. His hold was possessive, and it was that feeling of being so thoroughly surrounded that had me gasping against his lips.
Calm, boring comfort I could handle, but this fire of want that threatened to singe me from the inside out was not something I had been prepared for. Feeling Rod’s warmth and the answering burn beneath my own skin scared and excited me, and I shifted with the thought of moving away. It was then that the kiss changed again, turning languid and soft but no less intense. It was the type of kiss that sent shivers down my spine, and when Rod finally pulled away, giving me space to suck in a much-needed cooling breath, he didn’t go far.
“Stay right here in my arms tonight.”
His voice was sleep-deep as if he had woken from a dream, and I wondered if that was what had happened here. Had we both been dreaming? Surely that was why my answer came not even a beat later, though I was pretty sure it wasn’t what I had initially planned to say.