Melt (3 page)

She just wanted to forget everything Rob related for one
night. Hit the big
ol
’ Pause button and spend the
evening with Justin. Tomorrow she’d restart her life and figure out what came
next.

“Especially when one of those friends happens to have a
boyfriend,” he added when the silence extended. “A boyfriend she’s had for a
very long time.”

Yeah, since not long after she and Justin had shared a bed
senior year. She’d been so eager to experience…well, everything. And Rob had
been wild, dangerous, and sexually way out of her league.

But she’d learned.

Should she tell him Rob was no longer a factor? Maybe his
reluctance to push their boundaries was a good thing. She’d just ejected
herself from a volatile relationship. Yes, she was single, but only for a
handful of hours. If she rebounded any harder, she’d end up in the basketball
record books herself.

Kylie smoothed her hands down her stomach. It was amazing
how at ease she felt in Justin’s home, on his couch. She glanced down, noting
the plaid boxers and faded SU T-shirt she wore underneath the very frayed
comforter he’d wrapped her in. Even wearing his clothes seemed perfectly
natural. Maybe sex between them would still be comfortable too. She’d longed
for sparks once. Now she just didn’t want to get burned.

“Hey,” he said, reaching for the folded newspaper resting on
the coffee table. “This should cheer you up. There’s a game tonight.”

“Shit, yeah. What time is it?” She had no clue how long
she’d been there. She’d drifted in and out of sleep for what felt like hours
between bouts of Justin feeding her soup from a take-out container and pouring
his liquid cure-all down her throat. “Did we miss it?”

“Almost two a.m.” At her squeal of distress, he patted her
thigh. “Don’t worry. Would I ever contribute to you missing a game?” He picked
up the remote beside the paper and aimed at the huge plasma TV on the opposite
wall. “
TiVoed
it.”

Forgetting her injuries, she scrambled to sit up. “Did we
win?”

He flashed her a grin. “I didn’t watch it. What fun would
that be?”

“You’re a gem.” She frowned. “Don’t you have to work
tomorrow? Day before Thanksgiving and all?”

“Nope. We had unused snow days last year, so they tacked on
an extra day for the Thanksgiving holiday. Works for me. What about you? You
have a shift at the bar?”

“No. I’m off till Friday.” She pulled her knees up to her
chest to make more room on the couch for him, then bit her lip as her sore
lower back protested. “Uh, guess I’m not ready for my usual position yet.”

“You have a usual? I do have my favorites, I’ll admit.” As
if he didn’t realize she was gaping at him, he gently lifted her legs and
draped them over his lap as he sat back against the cushions. “There. Okay?”

Whoa. He didn’t normally throw out innuendos. That was her
job. She flung flirty comments his way while slinging drinks, and he lapped them
up with a laugh without responding in kind. Part of his allure was that he
seemed safe. She’d be able to handle a man like him. His needs wouldn’t be
overwhelming, and she wouldn’t come up lacking when she couldn’t fill her
expected role in her lover’s sexual Olympics.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Kylie huffed out a breath as he adjusted the comforter to
cover them both. She’d been a little chilly, but the shiver that rippled over
her skin had nothing to do with lack of body heat. Justin was so warm, his
thighs muscled and hard. Almost as hard as the other part of him she’d rubbed
against earlier.

That too was another aspect of him she couldn’t file away
with the rest. The Justin she knew didn’t find her so arousing, especially not
when she was disheveled and wet after taking a tumble into the snow. Unless
maybe she had him pegged all wrong. It had been years since college. Very
long
years.

“Need another drink?”

She shifted slightly. He’d donned a pair of shorts in
deference to the simmering fire, and the bristly hair on his legs rubbed
against the back of her calves. Why that sensation seemed so sexual, she didn’t
know. “I knew it. You are trying to get me loaded.”

He eyed her speculatively as the opposing centers faced each
other for the tip-off. “Actually, I’m not, but I think I’d like to see you
drunk.”

“Why?”

“No inhibitions.”

She stiffened. She simply couldn’t help it. Damn, had he
been peeping in the window of Rob’s place tonight? “I’m pretty uninhibited to
start.”

He shrugged and let his gaze wander back to the TV, though
he didn’t seem particularly interested in the game. “So you claim.”

Now wasn’t the time to argue the point. Why should he care
about her inhibitions? He’d been all about straight-up missionary the one and
only time they’d had sex. For God’s sake, she’d kissed him, and he’d pushed her
away as if she were a magazine subscription and he wasn’t buying.

His goading was just that. Maybe he was trying to distract
her from her pain. Besides, there was a game on, and she didn’t have anything
to prove. Especially not to another pigheaded man.

They watched the first half in companionable silence. During
halftime, he heated some more soup and brought her a mug of hot cocoa complete
with marshmallows. After a bit more of the obligatory brandy, she settled in to
enjoy the second half with Justin’s hands hooked around her ankles.
Occasionally he fingered the ACE bandage on the left one, but he didn’t ask her
again if she was all right. His gaze never left the TV until SU was victorious.

“God, that was great.” She released a happy sigh as he aimed
the remote and the screen went black. “Thanks for waiting to watch it with me.”

“You’re welcome. I’ve gotten used to watching them with
you.”

“
Mmm
. Ditto.” Without the noise of
basketball to fill the cavernous, mostly empty living room—apparently Justin
believed in the minimalist look—the silence seemed even thicker. She didn’t get
it. They never had problems talking normally. “So what now?”

Justin sat back and draped his arm over the back of the couch.
“Kylie, what’s going on? Why haven’t you asked to go home yet?”

Because I don’t have
one anymore.

“I thought we were having a good time.” She shrugged and
tried to pull her legs off his lap, but his wide, rough palms held them in
place. The guy was a high school guidance counselor. What did he do that left
his hands so calloused? “If you want your space, I’ll go. No problem. It is
awfully late.”

“It’s the day before Thanksgiving,” he said gently. “Don’t
you have a turkey to buy or something?”

“No. No turkey. No something.” She pushed her hair behind
her ears and made herself meet his entirely too sympathetic gaze. She hated
pity. Hell, she’d rather be ignored than have someone who mattered look at her
as if they were afraid she’d break. “So unless you intend to make me forget
exactly how alone I am right now, I think it’s best if I leave.”

He stared back for so long she wondered if she’d crossed
some line that couldn’t be erased. She almost apologized, almost tried to
explain her shitty evening and what she’d come upon at Rob’s house after
leaving work early with a headache. But before she could, he lifted her legs,
bending them toward her chest so he could slide closer to her. This time, her
back didn’t complain. Maybe it was his careful touch. Or maybe she wanted him
too much for anything else to even register.

Her heart stumbled as he reached out to grip her chin
between tense fingers. “You think you know what you’re asking for,” he said in
a gruff voice that only excited her more. “But you don’t.”

“So give me what I don’t know I want,” she whispered, caught
in his hot blue eyes, shades darker than her own.

His face hovered near hers for another moment. But even with
the extra time to prepare, she wasn’t ready for the heat that poured over her
when his soft mouth brushed hers. He kept the contact light until she grasped
his worn flannel shirt. Lean muscles coiled beneath the fabric as he picked up
the pace. Silky lips, rock-hard
pecs
. She needed to
see what that barrel of a chest looked like now under the plaid shirts and
hoodies he usually wore.

Shit, she just needed.

She dug her nails into his shoulders and opened her mouth at
his quick exhale. Half expecting him to push her aside as he had earlier, she
was pleasantly surprised when his tongue swept between her lips. Nice. He was a
good kisser and always had been. But the pleasant tingle in her breasts swiftly
turned into a brush fire between her legs as something hard and smooth scraped
her tongue. He repeated the move, and she moaned, simultaneously shocked and
thrilled.

Oh. My. God. How hot was that?

She wanted to ask her easygoing, affable pal why he had his
tongue pierced, but she couldn’t drag away to find out. She also couldn’t force
her thighs together tight enough to relieve the sudden ache in her pussy.

“Justin,” she gasped. “Why—”

“Don’t wear it all the time.” The sparkle in his eyes as he
eased back, sucked in air, and dived down for another kiss would’ve made her
grin if she weren’t so damned turned on. Then he started sucking her flesh as
if she were a cherry popsicle, and her mind went blank, except for one salient
point.

She wanted to feel that tongue ring other places.

Justin tunneled his fingers through Kylie’s sleek cap of
blonde hair and drew her mouth a whisper away. “Still want that hot bath you
mentioned on the way home from the hospital?”

She tilted her head until her hair tumbled into her
bluer-than-blue eyes. Those sexy eyes had teased him across the bar for months,
and he couldn’t believe he was finally seeing them cloud with desire. Again.
The first time had been so long ago he might as well have been looking into
another woman’s eyes. “I saw your tub,” she mumbled. “Definitely only big
enough for one.”

“True.” He cupped her cheek, unable to stop touching her for
a moment. Not when he’d waited so long, even if he hadn’t fully been able to
acknowledge that wait to himself. After their one-night stand, he’d moved on.
What choice did he have? His attempts to find out what had gone wrong after
their night together had hit a wall. A friendly, polite wall, but still one
nonetheless. Then she’d started dating her boyfriend, they’d graduated, and
that had been that.

Before tonight, Kylie had been off-limits, so he’d steered
clear. Though he’d kept to his own boundaries, she was the reason he hadn’t
pursued another woman since the day he’d walked into her bar six months ago.
Anyone else was just a substitute, and a poor one at that. But now he could
spend the night making her forget she was alone, as she’d asked.

Even if that meant he’d be left holding his dick afterward
when she more than likely bounced back to her boyfriend, at least they’d have
tonight. And tonight would be memorable. He’d make damn sure of it.

“So I guess we’ll have to try something else.” He peeled
back the comforter and rose. “Bring this,” he said, pushing the cover into her
hands as she stood.

She shivered, and he was willing to bet she wasn’t cold. “I
don’t think we’ll need a blanket.”

Justin hooked a finger in the collar of his baggy T-shirt
and bared her shoulder to his eager mouth. With one hot lick, her nipples
hardened against his chest, and he had to fight every impulse to drag her down
to the floor and fuck her right there. “You might be surprised.”

Before he could get lost in her, he led her down the hall to
the master bedroom and crossed through to the en suite bathroom. He flicked on
the light and glanced back to where she stood in the doorway clutching the
comforter, looking small and bruised.

His throat tightened. “Listen, maybe this isn’t the best
idea. You’re sore.”

Steeling her shoulders, she walked forward and cocked a brow
at the impressive erection tenting his shorts. “And you’re not?”

“That’s different.” He tried not to groan as her hand
wrapped around his shaft. As much as he wanted—needed—this night with her, he’d
be damned if he hurt her in the process. “Besides, we’re in the bathroom.” He
jerked his thumb at the narrow shower stall next to the tub. “A cold one of
those and my soldier will stand down.” Her palm ground against the base of his
cock. “Maybe two showers.”

Her husky laughter made it awfully difficult not to beg her
to get down on her knees. “You’re bigger than I remember.”

“Am I supposed to be complimented or offended by that
statement?”

“Definitely complimented. Goes along with that totally
unexpected tongue ring and…” She trailed off as she rolled up his shirt and saw
the tattoo on his abs. “A tribal tattoo. Man alive.” Her gaze swung up to his.
“So hot.”

He wanted to preen like a peacock, but the already proud
part of him was doing more than enough puffing up for the rest of him. “How
about you?” He slid his hands under her T-shirt to stroke her smooth, supple
back. “Any ink?”

“No. I’m a
wuss
when it comes to
pain.”

“I don’t think so. You’ve barely complained once tonight,
and I know you have to be hurting. Shit, you can’t even take meds. Maybe
that’ll teach you not to do such a stupid, reckless thing again.” He couldn’t
stop the censure in his voice any more than he could resist lifting her onto
the wide lip of the counter that surrounded the sink.

“Maybe.” Her tongue swept out to wet her lips. “Maybe not.
You’re not my daddy, so guess you don’t have a say either way.”

Because he heard the sly taunt in her tone, he didn’t get
annoyed. No way would he let her play him so easily. He braced his hands on the
counter on either side of her hips. “Does it count if I get you to call me
Daddy?”

Her nose wrinkled adorably. “I hate that phrase.”