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  And then the show.

  She was perfect. Beautiful with the sunset-stained light coming through his balcony windows. And the look she gave him was pure sin. She’d wiggled her way closer and closer to him, and now he had his arm wrapped around her, toying with the tiny strap of her tank top.

  He loved it when she wore shit like this. Loved the way he could tug on that little string and make her breasts jiggle and bounce. She gave him a playful punch to the belly, but then she flattened her hand. She couldn’t miss his sharp intake of breath.

  Neither did Judd.

  It was almost imperceptible, but the other man had angled his body just so. So unless Melanie stared at Judd, she wouldn’t be able to tell he was watching what was happening on the couch.

  Oh, but he was watching.

  When Will had watched Melanie directing her movers way back when she’d moved in—way back when he and Amber were still together—he’d had to perfect that nope, not looking look. She had been out in her stretchy black pants and an oversized t-shirt, and he’d been a goner. Hadn’t even met her and he’d wanted to punch out every leering sonofabitch who got to see her ass in those tights as she bent over to retrieve boxes, lamps, whatever.

  Will kept an eye on Judd’s impassive face as he slid his finger under the strap one more time before edging his finger down, down into the wide scoop of her top. Down until he had his finger on a tight little nipple. Will watched the muscle in Judd’s jaw tic, but the guy never so much as altered his breathing pattern.

  Tilting his head, he nuzzled the side of Melanie’s neck, and her nipple went from tight to damn near adamantine. Yeah, she liked it when he did that. But she’d like this even more.

  “He’s watching your pretty tits right now. Probably wondering what color your nipples are. How good you taste.” A rosy flush spread down her chest, and it made her freckles even more pronounced. Only he knew her nipples were surrounded by cinnamon-colored skin, the color of her lightest freckles. Only he knew that her nipples turned berry pink when she was aroused. That if he played and sucked on them, her creamy breasts would be tipped with the juiciest berries.

  “Will…” His name came out on a sigh and her hand slid down his abs.

  It was his turn to sigh when her hand just skimmed over his erection. “That’s right. Take what you want, honey. Only I get to taste you tonight. Only I get to fuck that pretty pussy of yours.”

  He looked up, and Judd had turned in the chair without him—or Melanie—even noticing. And he just sat there, hand around his water bottle. Watching.

  Will scooped Melanie’s breast out of her top and she moaned. High and needy and music to his depraved ears. Rolling one nipple between two fingers, he bent down to nip at the curve of her other breast, still hidden behind the white cotton. He lapped and sucked at her until that nipple was as needy as the first. Until her head was thrown back on the couch, eyes tight.

  “Are you sure this is what you want, honey? Do you want me to fuck you right here?” His words were low, just for her. The flicker of the television now lit her skin, bathing her in a blue-white glow.

  And Judd still watched.

  Just when he thought she was going to call it off, that this was the limit they dared to push, Melanie turned her head, opened her eyes and said, “I want you to fuck me right here. Right now.”

  Her hand tightened on his cock, and Will all but forgot about Judd.

  In a flash, he had Melanie sitting astride him, riding the ridge of his erection while he freed her other breast from her top. It was a crude corset, those skinny straps straining as the neckline plunged below her breasts, pushing them onto an obscene shelf. And he sucked at her so hard she cried out and grabbed at his hair.

  When he started to pull back, she offered up her other breast for the same treatment and ground down on him. “Hard.”

  He scraped his teeth across her and gently pulled on her flesh, her nipple elongating into a turgid peak he soothed with the flat of his tongue.

  “More, oh, God, Will.”

  She’d started shaking, her hips moving in jerky, arrhythmic movements that were somehow sexier than any slow, graceful grind. He bit the underside of her breast, and she fell apart in his arms, under his mouth. His hands soothing up and down her back as she rode out the last of her climax.

  Finally, she looked at him, eyes glassy and a little sex drunk, and gave him a smacking kiss before grabbing his cock. “Batter up.”

  Chapter 7

  Melanie managed to unzip Will’s shorts without maiming his magnificent erection. She couldn’t wait to get him in her hands.

  She might have been embarrassed by the way his fly was wet where she’d come all over him, riding him like they were high schoolers making out on the couch instead of working on algebra, but it was like a badge of honor. Or a secret. Their secret, just the two of them. Because though there were three people in the room right now, she only had eyes for Will.

  “Condom. Now,” she demanded. And Will somehow produced one without knocking her off his lap. She ran a few experimental strokes up and down his shaft before rolling down the condom. And when he moved to adjust her running shorts to the side, to position her over his penis, she backed up. Stood up.

  And turned around.

  Judd was casually sitting in the big leather armchair, maybe a hint of a smile on his otherwise blank face. But a rush of new moisture pooled between her legs when she brought both hands up to her breasts and pinched her nipples and his eyes went a little wild.

  Hell yeah. This was awesome.

  She didn’t know what to do next. She and Will had imagined this scenario—or one like it—so many times, talked it out, acted it out. But when it came down to it, she didn’t know where to begin.

  Melanie wanted to stick her hand down her shorts, watch Judd’s unblinking eyes as she wallowed in her wetness. The television was on mute and she was so aroused, they’d both hear it.

  They’d all hear it.

  Will was just idly caressing the outside of her thighs, like there was no rush. Like she’d stood up to go get another bottle of water from the kitchen. Nothing frantic in his touch to indicate his giant erection was primed and ready for action.

  Or that she was so wet she actually felt a drop of liquid running down the inside of her thigh.

  She leaned over, conscious of the way her breasts spilled over the top of her tank and swayed a little as she shimmied off her shorts.

  Will groaned behind her. He had a perfect view of her pussy as she put her hands down on the coffee table, balancing while she kicked off her shorts. If she leaned forward a bit, she was just close enough to catch an unfamiliar scent.

  Ah. Judd was not as unaffected as he seemed.

  And when Will spread her wider and licked at her with a wide, flattened tongue, it was Judd’s breathing that got faster. And Judd’s cock that swelled behind worn denim.

  Back in her apartment, Will had told her Judd had promised not to speak. Promised not to be involved in their scene beyond watching. But in that moment, Melanie wanted to see him reach for his cock. To know that what he was seeing was so fucking hot, he couldn’t resist touching himself.

  But there was no rule about her talking to him.

  “You like that, do you?” Her voice sounded foreign to her own ears. Low, raspy. Filthy. She sounded like the filthy sex she was about to have, and she loved it. “You dirty fucker, you like watching my tits while your friend has his tongue in my pussy, don’t you?”

  Oh fuck. Will was doing his best to make her incoherent, and Judd was shifting in his chair trying futilely to relieve the pressure in his pants. Melanie was so close to coming, and she didn’t want to be useless—and if Will kept on fucking her with his tongue, she was going to be out of her mind with an explosive orgasm. She wanted to enjoy every moment.

  Will seemed to sense what she wanted. He gave her clit one last sucking kiss, her ass one final smack, and then guided her down.

  She’d never though
t about optics during sex before. Had always just done what felt good. But under the flickering light, she moved to part her folds when she came down on Will’s cock, tensed her thighs and took him in so slowly it was something like actual torture.

  The dual groans of masculine pleasure had her sliding home in a rush.

  It felt so good, and she was stretched so tight around him with her legs splayed out on either side of his. She was open, so open. And wet. God, the slick sound of her body as it rose up and up until his cockhead sprang free was a sound of beauty. Another slow slide down teased her unbearably—and Will, too, for he grabbed at her hips and took her on a punishing ride.

  Her thighs were straining to hold her up as Will drove into her over and over. Soon, she gave up and let him keep her balanced. Trusted him to hold her steady just as he trusted her to be open and ready for him.

  Will snaked his arm around her, high on her chest, and it was just thisclose to her neck that she felt vulnerable and shaky.

  Her climax hit her without warning. Her hands clutching at his forearm because she didn’t know what to do with them. She was beyond anything but the feel of Will, hot and hard inside her, and the weight of Judd’s gaze as he watched her come apart.

  Chapter 8

  When it was over, when they’d both come down from the crazy high, Will took a minute to fall back into himself. Forehead resting on Melanie’s shoulder blade, breaths coming fast and shallow, he felt the last of the slow tremors leave her body.

  After kissing her one last time, a quick press of lips to her bare back, he helped her up, grabbed for the throw on the back of the couch—the one she’d made him for Christmas because she complained she was always cold at his place—and went to take care of the condom.

  He hadn’t once made eye contact with Judd after Melanie had performed her little striptease. Hadn’t been focused on anything but making her feel good. And Will didn’t exactly know what to do next.

  They’d talked about the rules for during, and way after—like “at the next apartment get-together” or “the next time they went out for a beer” kind of way after—but they’d neglected to negotiate the immediate after.

  In the half bath, Will cleaned up, zipped up, and moved to go back into the living room.

  He stopped at the threshold when he heard a low voice murmuring and Melanie’s soft, drowsy laughter.

  Something in his gut clenched.

  Will wasn’t the love ’em and leave ’em type, and he’d known the moment Melanie agreed to become his friend with benefits that he wouldn’t be satisfied with that arrangement for long.

  If he were honest with himself, truly honest, for the last six months of his relationship with Amber, he’d been racked with guilt over the infatuation with his new neighbor. Their relationship had been strained for months before that, but when fresh-faced, recent college grad Melanie Robles had moved across the breezeway, that had been it for Will.

  And then she’d brought them cookies. A friendly farm girl from southeastern Arizona, Melanie was warm and open. Funny and thoughtful.

  When Amber had told him she would not marry him, had told him he could keep the furniture and she was moving out, it had been a blessing. A month or so later, Melanie had been his. Temporarily. Though he’d do anything to make it permanent.

  So to see another man talking to Melanie, taking care of Melanie—

  Judd walked to the kitchen, Melanie moved to sit up on the couch, and Will finally restarted his brain.

  “Everything okay here, honey?”

  She laughed again, a little more with it now, and killed him a little when she said, “Men. Judd just asked me the exact same thing.”

  Something like a tsunami of blood rushed through his ears. No. She was his. His sweet Mel. She was his to care for. His to love.

  “Go on over there, caveman. You promised it wouldn’t be like this.”

  Judd shoved two ice-cold bottles of water at his bare chest and rolled his eyes. But not before asking, real low, “We good?”

  Will looked to Melanie where she still sat, quietly beaming on the couch, wrapped up in that ugly-ass blanket she’d made with random spools of yarn she had in her craft closet.

  “Never better.”

  And it was true. He’d never been better—he’d just choose to forget those heart-stopping, gut-clenching moments of pure panic when he feared they’d made the wrong decision. That indulging in their fantasy had ruined everything that was just beginning between him and Melanie.

  Yep. Never better. Even when Judd walked over to Mel, bent to kiss her cheek and thank her for inviting him in.

  The door snicked closed and Melanie sighed and leaned back against the buttery-soft leather. He’d take her there some morning, on the couch with the warm desert sunrise turning her entire body golden. Will would lay her back against the leather, spread her wide, and worship her with his whole body.

  For now, his goddess looked a little sleepy with the blanket dipping low over her collarbone. She’d put her hair up in a ponytail while he was in the bathroom, and her skin was still a little splotchy.

  “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

  She snorted. “Likely story.”

  “No. It’s absolutely true.”

  “I’ll concede that I’m perhaps the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen naked on your couch.” She pulled a face, and he knew she was regretting making the comparison, however vague, to Amber and the women who’d been there before. So she changed the subject. “Wanna order something?”

  Come to think of it, he was starving. He tossed her a water bottle and plopped down next to her on the couch. She cracked the lid and downed it in about three gulps. That simple act shouldn’t be so erotic when they’d both just blown the door open wide on erotic acts. He glimpsed a flash of breast when she put the empty on the floor, wondered if she was already bruising where he’d bit at her skin, then she bounced over to his side and snuggled in.

  “My hands are cold.” Draping one side of the blanket over him so her bare breast pressed into his side when she wrapped an arm around him, she damn near made him jump out of his skin when she placed her ice-hand on his lower back. “Ahhhh,” she said exaggeratedly. “Much better.”

  “Damn, Melanie.”

  But she just smiled against his shoulder and went to work tracing complicated designs on the small of his back. That warmed him up faster than it should have.

  “I’m hungry.”

  “Ditto. You wore me out, Mel. What sounds good?”

  “Not sure. You pick.”

  Hmm, he was actually considering how to code their pizza for this monumental event. He doubted they’d ever repeat it. But in case she wanted to—in case they wanted to—“What toppings say, congratulations, you’ve just knocked off the number one item on your sexual bucket list?”

  “Yeah. About that.”

  “About what?”

  Mel jumped up from the couch, suddenly energetic, and moved over to the big leather chair where Judd had sat earlier.

  “This.”

  She dangled a roll of wide, shiny black electrical tape from her index finger.

  Wait. Bondage tape.

  “I thought you were hungry.”

  She shrugged and unraveled a length of it, stretching it, testing it. Looking like she was getting all kinds of ideas.

  “Oh no. We’ve had enough of that tonight. I think it’s a cheese pizza and Star Wars night after all.”

  “Oh you do, do you?”

  “Yep.” He began to edge around the coffee table, but she started backing up to the hallway.

  “Plain cheese? Booooring,” she teased.

  He caught her around the waist. “A classic,” he insisted, and bent to capture her mouth with his.

  “Mmmmm.”

  Her moan was a subtle vibration on his mouth. “Utterly delicious.”

  “I don’t know.” She nibbled at his lower lip, and he tried to remind himself he wasn’t a total j
ackass and shouldn’t guide her mouth down to his cock. They hadn’t said anything about green peppers.

  “I think after the extraordinary night you arranged for us,” she continued, completely oblivious to his mental struggle, “I think I owe you a pizza. My treat.”

  She was up to something, but he played along. But played it his way, bringing her arms up over her head, gripping her wrists in his hands and pressing her into the wall. “Your treat, huh?”

  “Yeah. I think you’d really enjoy some combination pizza at about, oh, three in the morning.” She shook the roll of bondage tape meaningfully. Or as meaningfully as she could with her hands trapped.

  He’d have to buy Judd a lifetime supply of beer. The man was a fucking saint for leaving behind a little gift.

  “Perfect. Hands behind your head. I want to see you on your knees.”

  She danced out from between the wall and held the tape aloft. “Oh no. I think you misunderstand. Combination pizza. My. Treat.”

  “Yep. You. You are my treat.”

  She shook her head slowly from side to side, pointed to him and then to her heart. The gesture was both sweet and suggestive.

  Realization washed over him. Oh no. Oh no. They’d done enough sexplorations that evening, hadn’t they?

  She was right, though. He was hers. Completely. And now was a perfect time to remind her of what he’d known all along.

  But that didn’t mean he couldn’t play with her a little bit first. “You know, Judd left that tape for me. We’re in my apartment—”

  “He left it for us.”

  “Maaaaaybe.” He affected a menacing leer. “But I’m bigger and stronger…”

  “You think you can take me, Will?”

  “Oh, absolutely.”

  “Then come on.” She turned to walk to his bedroom. Her heart-shaped ass swinging with each exaggerated step she took. Melanie turned and looked over her shoulder. Wiggled the bondage tape for good measure. “Come on,” she whispered. “I dare you.”