I scoffed.
“All right, I was avoiding you a little.”
“No shit. Well, now I’m avoiding you a lot,” I said, reclosing my eyes. “Go away. And turn off the light on your way out, please.”
Callused fingers stroked my arm, the touch lingering, loving, even. I slapped madly at the hand, doing my best to chase him away. Except of course this was Vaughan so that didn’t quite work. Next thing I knew he was crouched over me, swift fingers tickling my ribs, under my arms, my belly. Everywhere, the bastard. I wriggled and squirmed, getting nowhere.
“Do not tickle me! Leave me alone,” I bellowed. “You suck.”
The tickling continued.
“Get away from me, Hewson. I don’t even like you anymore.”
He lay his long body down on top of me, effectively thwarting my ability to fight back. Of course, the feel of him rubbing himself against me woke up my inner horn dog. The desire to arch into him, to stick my tongue down his throat and get me some was mighty. But no! My girl parts would not be so easily swayed. No sex for him.
By god, the jerk was heavy. Elephants, the Titanic, think that kind of weight range.
“You’re squishing me!”
Warm lips pressed kisses all over my face. “Do you forgive me?” he asked.
“No. You’re the worst. I’ll never forgive you.”
I beat at him with clenched fists, as best as I could. Unfortunately, not only was he heavy, he was strong. The asshat caught my wrists, pressing them down above my head. But I wasn’t done yet. Oh no. Like some fearsome, deadly, half-drunk creature, I waited for my chance to strike. Then … my sharp teeth bit hard into his hot salty skin, holding on. A full frontal attack on the base of his thick neck.
Hahahahaha.
“Ouch,” he bitched.
A hand held the back of my head, almost cradling it, but this was war so it couldn’t be that. Regardless, I bit on.
“Fuck, babe.” He wrapped my hair around his fist and tugged hard. “All right, you’ve made your point. I already said I’m sorry. That’s enough.”
I released the hard flesh between my teeth. Victory was mine. Plus, my jaw was starting to ache.
“Am I bleeding?” he asked, trying to look at the wound.
“No. You’re going to have a doozy of a bruise, though.” I relaxed back against the mattress, taking a deep breath. At some stage he’d taken most of his weight on one knee. So I actually could breathe freely now. “I told you not to tickle me. And if that was you trying to start something, think again. I can get myself off just fine without your help.”
A grunt of much unhappiness. Then he climbed off of me, collapsing onto the bed at my side, making the mattress shake. For a while, we just lay there in silence.
“I thought about you today,” he said eventually.
I didn’t know how to respond.
“I am sorry about leaving you alone last night. I just…”
“You just what?” I asked when it became clear he wouldn’t be finishing the thought on his own.
“It was serious, going to get the pill.”
“Yes, it was.” With a heavy sigh I rolled onto my side, facing him. There might come a day in a thousand years or so when the sight of him didn’t move me. I doubt it, though. He addled my brain and made the butterflies inside me come to life. What effect he had on my heart, I didn’t even want to ponder.
“I think it shocked me.” There was such honesty in his eyes, in his unguarded expression. “I’ve always been careful about protection. Always. Dad lectured me constantly about it and growing up, I saw friends become fathers way ahead of their time. Then there’s all the STDs. But last night with you…”
“You were upset, Vaughan.”
“Yeah.” He stared into my eyes, giving me a sad smile. “You look tired. Lie down, I’ll get the light.”
I didn’t ask him if he was staying or retreating to his own room. Being needy annoyed the crap out of me. We didn’t have that kind of relationship. He rolled off the bed and flicked off the light. Then he wandered out into the hallway. One by one, the other lights in the house disappeared and full darkness crept in. Heavy footsteps came my way and then the mattress squeaked as he sat at the end.
That wasn’t relief rolling through me. It was something else. Something complicated and beyond my control.
The palms of his hands slid up over my bare legs, all the way up to my panties, where they lingered with obvious intent.
“Vaughan.”
“I want to get you off.” He traced delicate lines over my stomach, making my muscles clench with need. “Please.”
“I don’t know…”
“Just you. Nothing for me,” he said, hooking his fingers in my underwear and slowly dragging them down my legs. “Let me go down on you, Lydia. I want to make amends.”