And it was amazing. A revelation. A multitude of roller coaster emotions she decided not to question or analyze. In this moment, Rick was deeply imbedded in her, and she wanted him like no other before.
Pressing her body into his, Rick drove his tongue into her mouth in time with his thrusts, stroking, pushing, giving, taking, until the swell of orgasm began its upward climb.
Her hands went to his back, kneading the thick cord of bunched muscles, digging her fingers into his flesh as the white-hot heat of release called to her.
Another slick thrust and Rick was tensing, too, their bodies rocking, his hips pressed tightly to hers. He ground against her, tearing his lips from hers and burying his face in her neck as they drove toward completion.
And when she came, her chest heaving against Rick’s, the scrape of her nipples against his smooth skin driving her mad, she cried out, bucking against him in a wild thrash of light and color.
Rick tensed then, too, his thighs, crushed to hers, flexing and releasing as he took one last thrust before groaning out his pleasure at release.
Driving her arms up under his, Poppy burrowed against him and sighed, closing her eyes and smiling.
Buttoning her flannel shirt, Poppy realized she had one more thing to do, and she hated doing it, but in the interest of forewarned, she was going to plow forward.
As she looked at his perfect body, reveled in the amazing lovemaking they’d shared, she sighed. “There’s something else I need to talk to you about.”
He gestured to his throat, still unable to talk. Which, in this case, might be a good thing…still odd, but nonetheless, a good thing.
Cupping his jaw, she ran her thumb over the stubble there, loving the feel of his skin against her fingertips, wishing they could stay like this a while longer. “I have a bigger dilemma than even the one I’m having with your hot self. And by the way, I’m not holding you to the dirty-dirty sex we just had. Even though it was pretty damn good.”
He chuckled, but it came out as a dry hiss as he grabbed at her fingers and kissed the tips.
She wasn’t sure if his chuckle meant this was a great way to pass the time, and he was okay with her backing out of their warlock/familiar relationship or he had something else to say.
So she reiterated. “I mean that. No strings, no promises whatever. I mean we just met. Maybe this was just a thing I needed to get out of my system? Either way, I’m an adult. You’re an adult. That’s not what I need to get off my chest right now. But I do need to get something off my chest.”
He shook his head, running his hand over her arm affectionately—which again, she wasn’t sure meant he was down with no strings attached, or against it, but that was neither here nor there at this point. Or it wouldn’t be in a minute.
“Okay, so can I get you to lend me your ear?”
Rick rolled his eyes and smiled as if to say, he had nothing but an ear to lend.
“It’s about Avis,” she broached with cautious care.
His head cocked at an angle as he, too, sat up and pulled on his sweater. As though he thought they needed to be dressed to have this conversation. Once he’d fully dressed, he held out his wide palm and gestured for her to continue.
Zipping her jeans, she slipped on her clogs and looked down at the floor. “Boy, I suck at dicking around. Look, I’m just going to be straightforward with you and get right to the point.”
He grinned his consent by grabbing her fingers and leaning down to press another delicious kiss on her lips, almost deterring her from telling him what was on her mind.
But a sense of urgency took over. Looking up at him, she planted a hand on his wide chest and said, “I don’t like Avis. He’s not a good person.”
Now he frowned, dropping her hand. “Mmm?”
“You heard right. He’s not a good person. Call it intuition, call it my gut, but I know I’m right. I can’t prove it. I don’t know why I feel this way, but trust me, he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
She avoided adjectives like “misogynistic shitface” and “twatwaffle” out of respect for Rick, but they were certainly on the tip of her tongue.
His eyes narrowed as he planted his hands on his lean hips and gave her a questioning glare.
“I know, I know. You want proof. I don’t have any. I’m just telling you, it’s what I’ve felt from the moment I met him. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t understand it. I still mostly don’t. But I’m right. He’s no good for you. He’s shady, Rick.”
He grabbed his phone and punched something in before lifting his hard jaw. She saw all the things he wanted to say but couldn’t. She saw his denial. She saw the words of support he would use if he hadn’t lost his voice. She saw the defense she knew he’d use in favor of Avis. But it didn’t matter.
Avis was bad mojo.