Page 121 of What We Break
Reid catches himself on his elbows above me, and for a second we just look at each other. I can see the tattoo on his shoulder, the one I traced with my finger last week when we fell asleep together. Jared and Blake's names in black ink.
"Hi," Reid says softly, his voice almost shy despite the fact that we're breathless and desperate and his hips are settling between my thighs.
The sweetness in his voice when everything else is so charged makes my chest tight. How does he do that? Make me feel like I'm melting and burning up at the same time?
"Hi yourself."
Reid leans down and kisses me again, slower this time but no less intense. I run my hands up his chest. I've seen him shirtless before - sleeping in his bed, working on the house - but this is different. This is me getting to touch all that warm skin, getting to feel the way his muscles jump under my palms, knowing he's all mine. That tonight we're not going to end with just cuddling.
"Your turn," Reid says against my mouth, his fingers already working at the hem of my t-shirt.
I sit up enough to help him pull it over my head. I instinctively want to cross my arms—hide the soft stomach, the extra padding that was always just a little too much. But I stop myself. I'm not going to let that little voice anywhere near this bed tonight. Instead, I let myself focus on Reid.
His eyes drop to my chest, then lower, and he looks... hungry. Like he specifically ordered this off the menu. Heat shoots straight through me.
"Damn, Laine," he breathes, and his voice is so rough I barely recognize it. "You're so?—"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence with 'beautiful,'" I say, tugginghim back down to me. "I need you to touch me, not give me compliments."
Reid laughs, low and heated. "Yes ma'am."
His hands are everywhere - skimming along my ribs, tracing the edge of my bra, threading through my hair. Every touch makes me want more, makes me arch into him.
This is happening. We're really doing this. And it feels right in a way that's almost scary.
"Laine," Reid says, and his voice cracks a little. "I want to—I mean, we should probably?—"
"What?"
"Go slow. Make sure you're ready. I don't want to rush?—"
I can feel him fighting for control, trying to be gentle and considerate while his whole body is tense with want. It's sweet and maddening at the same time.
The fact that he's trying so hard to take care of me when I can feel how much he's struggling makes me want him even more. This man who could probably have anyone, and he's worried about making sure I'm okay.
"Reid." I take his face in my hands, tilt it so he has nowhere to look but at me. "I've been ready since you kissed me in your kitchen last week. Stop trying to be a gentleman and just be with me. I will tell you if I need you to slow down." Or speed up.
That does it. Whatever thread he's been holding himself together with, it snaps. Reid kisses me like he's done being careful, and his hands are already working at my jeans. I lift my hips to help him drag them down, and then I'm going for his belt because fair is fair.
"Jesus," Reid mutters when my fingers brush against him through the denim. His whole body locks up. "Laine, if you keep doing that?—"
"What?" I do it again, slower this time, watching his face the whole time. "This?"
Who knew I could do this to someone? Make Reid—steady, careful, always-in-control Reid—come apart just because my hand is on him. His breathing goes ragged and I barely have to try. Is this what power feels like? Because I could get dangerously used to it.
Reid's eyes roll back and the sound he makes is somewhere between a groan and a laugh. "You're going to kill me."
God, I want to drive him completely crazy. I want to see exactly how far I can push before he snaps.
"Good thing you're dating a nurse."
"Dating?" Reid's grin is wicked as he kisses down my neck. "Is that what we're doing?"
I smile at that, which is impressive considering his mouth is making it very difficult to form thoughts like a functioning human.
"Among other things," I manage, and then he finds that spot just below my ear and my toes actually curl, which is a thing I thought only happened in movies. "God."
His mouth moves lower, dragging across my collarbone, and whatever was left of my higher brain function just clocks out. Done for the day. Gone home early. There's nothing but heat and want and the ragged sound of both of us breathing too fast.
