I whirled as a knock sounded at the door before the knob rattled and Brandon let himself in. He looked at me in surprise, which gave way to puzzlement as he froze and just stared at me.

“What?” I asked irritably.

“Well,” he said cautiously. “Is everything okay?”

Huh?

“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” I asked, and then continued, “Nope. Nevermind,” as I realized that I still had my fingers tangled in my hair. I gave a small, exasperated groan and released my hold as he just grinned at me and came all the way in, closing the door behind him and locking it with the deadbolt.

I flopped down on the couch with a huff as he just shook his head and lugged the duffle he was carrying into the spare bedroom. He came back and plopped down beside me, patting my leg and smiling once more.

“You sure you’re okay with me staying here?” he asked, still smiling, albeit very cautiously.

I turned to him, feeling like an ass. “Yeah, it’s completely fine! Don’t worry about it at all, you can stay as long as you want. It’s not like I’m going to run you out of the house having loud sex every night. Hell, you’d be hard pressed to hear me moan while I’m-” My words choked off, my eyes widening in horror at what I was about to reveal to him.

Brandon sat up, totally perked up by the turn in conversation. “What was that, Chloe?” he asked, smiling widely.

I shook my head, refusing to answer the question. “Want to watch a movie with me?” I asked him, hoping to change the subject, or at least distract him long enough for him to forget the word vomit that just flew out of my mouth.

He agreed, winking at me, letting me know that he knew what I was doing. But I didn’t care, by God, because we were so totally not going there. Not with him blowing so hot and cold on me all the time, kissing me one minute until I’m ready to burst into flame, and then ramming the ‘F’ word down my throat. You know…friend.

I jumped up and grabbed the first movie that I laid my hand on, which turned out to be Friends with Benefits. Very funny, very sweet movie with a very hot Mila Kunis and a surprisingly decent Justin Timberlake. I put it in and hit play, sinking back down onto the couch beside him without a second thought.

We watched and laughed until we got to the sex parts…God, how could I forget how many of those there were in this movie? And it’s not like they were all that hot; in fact, they were pretty humorous, too, but still.

Hyperawareness prickled down every nerve in my body when Brandon shifted. I moved my legs restlessly, my knee and thigh connecting with him every time I did. I didn’t realize we were sitting so close. I blinked and took a deep breath, letting it out on a sigh as I looked around the room, taking my eyes off the fuck-fest on the screen in front of me for a moment.

The living room was shrouded in darkness, the only light coming from the TV. I hadn’t even noticed that it’d gotten dark outside.

Brandon shifted beside me again, his thigh connecting with mine once more, and this time he didn’t move it away. A jagged breath puffed from my lips, the slight sound seeming so…needy, so desperate in the darkness, even as the characters bantered wittily on the screen.

“Chloe.”

I swallowed and peeked up at him when my name left his lips on a whisper. He was staring at me, his stormy eyes drinking me in, taking me under. The air turned electric, the hyperawareness I’d felt thrumming through me like I’d been hooked up to a 12 volt and tossed in a tub of water.

“Yeah?” I answered, whispering back to him.

His eyes searched my face and then he gave a muttered curse before his lips crashed onto mine, his tongue spearing into my mouth and stealing my breath, along with every coherent thought in my head. I kissed him back like I was starving, the heady thrust and parry of tongues, the sweet, sharp stings of teeth nipping at lips driving me crazy as a wave of lust crashed over me.

I shot up and over him, shoving him against the back of the couch as I straddled his lap, moaning into his mouth when that achy part of me nestled against the incredibly hard length of him, feeling the exquisite heat of him even through our clothes. I bucked my hips to grind myself against him, the wildness taking me over and pushing me to the razor-sharp edge of a world shattering climax. I arched into him more, the rigid line of him swelling even larger behind the seam of his jeans as I raced toward the finish line, taking what I wanted…no needed, what I’d been craving for so long. All at once the wave crested and broke, drowning me in pleasure as I threw my head back, an uncontrollable scream tearing from my throat as I came.

I collapsed against his chest in a boneless heap, emotions warring inside me. I didn’t know which should be the winner though; complete and utter satisfaction from that mind-blowing orgasm or mortification that I’d just basically dry humped him like a rabid rabbit hopped up on ecstasy?

“God, Chloe!” Brandon gasped out as his fingers clenched hard onto my hips, his chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath, cupping my shoulders with his hands to push me back a little at the same time.

I whimpered in my throat and fought against him, not ready to face him. I was so scared at what I would see there. I didn’t want him to regret it, and God help him if he threw that ‘F’ word out there again.

“Sunshine…” he breathed, releasing one of his hands from my shoulder to run it soothingly down my cheek, bringing my face up to his. I felt myself melt at the look in his eyes, the sincerity that I had only hoped for rather than regret shining back at me from the stormy depths. He leaned his forehead against mine, letting out a breath before he kissed me softly, a tender, slight brush of his lips against mine that was over too quickly.

“That was…” he broke off to touch his lips to mine once more, and then continued. “Fucking hell, that was so fucking hot, Chloe. Don’t hide from me. Baby, you’ve got me hanging by a thread here, so you need to tell me right now if you don’t want to cross that line. I don’t want to fight it anymore, can’t fight it anymore. Your kisses set me on fire and I want nothing more than to take you back to your bedroom and worship every inch of you with my mouth before I bury myself balls deep inside your tight little body.”

His words were ragged, his control clearly ready to snap and there was no way in hell I was gonna tell him no. This is what I’d wanted ever since I’d kissed him…things had already changed; we’d already crossed that line, in my own mind at least, and there was no going back. I couldn’t go back, even if I wanted to.

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his in answer. On a groan, he slid both of his hands back down past my hips and clenched them tight on my thighs, just under my ass. I squeaked into his mouth and clung to him as he rose off the couch in a fluid movement, no hesitation whatsoever at my added weight, and strode down the hallway to my bedroom.

My body trembled in his arms, nervousness and desire curling together to land like a lead weight in the pit of my stomach, and it didn’t get any better when he broke the kiss and dropped me gently on the bed, standing at the edge and just staring at me. I swallowed hard and fought the urge to cover myself, which was ridiculous considering I was still fully dressed.

Brandon held my gaze and began methodically stripping out of his clothes, the heat in his eyes scalding me with their intensity. My breath caught and my eyes widened as he peeled off his boxer briefs, his glorious hardness springing up from the material to bob gently before curving along his taut stomach, pointing directly up to his belly button.