He fell into a single step toward River, reaching out for her hips. “If this is an invitation, you know my fucking answer.”
She moved out of his reach. “Do you remember the night, about a week before I turned eighteen, when you climbed in through my window?”
“I remember every time like it happened yesterday,” he returned hoarsely. “We’d play games. Touching games, even though we shouldn’t have. Even though I damn well knew better.” Vaughn’s hand fell to his fly, showing no gentleness as he handled his bulge, kneading it, lifting it. “Knew those games would only make keeping my cock out of you harder.”
Warmth turned the flesh slick between River’s thighs, her breath shortening. “Yes, those games,” she breathed, pleasure skating through her tummy when Vaughn perused her thinly covered breasts and licked his lips, the image of a man starved. “I’m thinking of the time I asked you to—” She gasped when his gaze drilled into her, forcing her back a step—a step rendered pointless when Vaughn began prowling closer. Better say the words before he overwhelms you. “The time you touched yourself in front of me. The time I watched.”
“You’re asking me if I remember beating off onto your naked body?” He surged forward unexpectedly, fusing his mouth to her ear. “That’s not something a man forgets. Especially not when the girl gets off on it.” When she sucked in a breath, Vaughn laughed against the flesh of her neck. “You think I didn’t notice? Your orgasms were my life. I knew what they looked like, what made them happen fast, slow, hard, easy. I called each of them by name. I was their best friend.”
River’s equilibrium teetered, making her wonder if she was still in a drunken stupor after all. Or maybe she’d been overly ambitious thinking she could handle Vaughn’s fierce sexuality.
No. She couldn’t show any weakness or evidence of intimidation. There was no going back. “I want you to do it again.”
One powerful arm was around her lower back, yanking her into his warmth before she finished the request. Poised on her toes, she was held immobile as Vaughn groaned against her neck, into her hair. “So this is how I die, huh?” His Jersey accent was so thick now, she could’ve plucked it out of the air. “You’re not inviting me to touch you? You’re inviting me to not touch you?”
“Yes,” River managed, trying not to be obvious about inhaling his scent. “You’ll only be touching yourself.”
“Tell me why, first.” His huge frame was heaving with the effort to breathe. “I think I have the right to know that much before I stroke myself for your entertainment.”
River closed her eyes and four years fell away. Vaughn was once more the young man who ruled her every thought, her body, her mind. And she was a girl who hadn’t discovered her first heartache yet. Reality was right there, hovering in the background, but she pushed it away, determined to take what her body had been crying out for. In the process of letting those years melt away—just for a short time—honesty rippled out, the way it might have from a bright-eyed River, whose heart was still intact. “I…” She curled her fingers in his shirt. “I just need to feel sexy.”
Her back landed on the bed so fast she bounced, only recovering from her shock when Vaughn’s fingers began making quick work of her jeans, unbuttoning, jerking the zipper down, and shucking the denim across the room. “River, you almost had me coming in my pants earlier, dressed in a pair of baggy coveralls.” His attention raked her, starting at her neck and ending at the juncture of her thighs. “That’s not what you’re wearing now, though, is it? You want to recreate a memory, we’re going to do it right. That means your tits need to be on display. We on the same page?”
What had she gotten herself into here? She remembered being with Vaughn…but she hadn’t remembered remembered. When given the green light, he charged like a bull, mowing down everything in his path to get to her. This was what she’d wanted, though. Painful longing streaked down her middle, hitting its target and sending her fumbling for the front clasp of her bra. “My underwear—”