Page 96 of Instigator

“You’d want that?”

“Yeah, baby, I would.” She tugs me to standing, then reaches for my shirt, slipping the first button from the loop. I discarded my tie when we got to the bar, still dressed in my shirt and suit pants. She’s in my jersey.

And fuck, do I like seeing her wearing my number.

Regrettably, I’m too keyed up to appreciate it fully. Or the way she strips my shirt off my shoulders, loosens my belt, and unzips my pants. The fabric whispers to the floor, and I step out of them, moving closer to her.

“Ceci?” My voice comes out in a harsh whisper.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.” I wrap my arms around her, pulling her into me. Her smaller body fits perfectly against mine. She’s still dressed, while I’m only wearing my boxer briefs, and the dichotomy makes me appreciate her that much more. Makes me want her that much more.

“For what?”

“For being you. For accepting me.”

She tilts her head back, gazing up at me. “I am who I am, and you are who you are. We wouldn’t be doing this if we weren’t.”

“Yeah, but⁠—”

“No. No what-ifs.” She leans into me, stealing my strength as much as I am hers. “I like you just the way you are.”

Stepping back, she reaches for the hem of the jersey, drawing it over her head. Beneath, she’s wearing a simple black long-sleeved shirt, and she strips that off too, then her jeans.

She stands before me in her dainty lace bra and panties, and I stare at her, dumbfounded. How in the hell did I get so lucky as to have this woman in my life?

For seven years, we sat on opposite sides of the phone, playing video games. Then a few weeks ago, our online world collided with our real lives, and now… I wouldn’t have it any other way. We would never be able to make this work if we didn’t have those years of solid friendship under our belts.

We collide like lightning, drawn together like moths to a flame. In an instant, my whole world narrows into this one, infinite moment.

I kiss her, or she kisses me, a frantic tangle of lips and tongues. The subtle smokiness of her perfume floods my senses, overriding the few parts of my brain that are still online.

Ceci walks backward, pulling me toward the bed. She falls onto the mattress and scrambles back toward the pillows.

I stay at the edge, drinking her in. Her soft body, the scars lining her arms and belly and thighs… All of it, all of her, drives me absolutely fucking crazy.

“What’s wrong?” She gazes up at me, concern on her face.

“Just trying to decide where to start.”

She giggles, the sound bringing a smile to my face. “Start here, with me.”

I crawl onto the mattress, making my way up to her. She reaches for me, pulling me on top of her. Her body feels like heaven pressed to mine, soft curves meeting my hard muscles. I don’t have to worry about being too heavy, about hurting her. She’s stronger than she looks.

Ceci pants out a moan as her legs wrap around my waist, her fabric-covered center hot as a brand against me through my boxers.

I want to take my time. To memorize every moment, to worship every inch of her.

The needy whimpers falling from her lips drive me higher and higher. Her hands land on my shoulders, then travel down my arms and over my back, like she can’t get enough of me. I feel the same exact way. There will never be enough of Ceci. Not for me.

She arches against me, dragging her heat against my hard cock. I’m throbbing, so close, so fucking close to the edge already.

The room grows thick with the musky scent of sex, of her and me. I want to slow things down or speed them up. I don’t know what I need, only that I need something, anything.

Ceci squirms beneath me, and it takes me a second to realize she’s shimmying down her panties. The silky-soft gold lace is damp from her arousal.

Well, if she’s going to, I should as well. Right? Isn’t that how this goes?