He took the bottle back when she was done, and she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“You enjoy the show?” she asked bluntly.
Willing himself not to flinch or act like her question caught him off guard, he calmly regarded her. “I’d have enjoyed it a hell of a lot more if I was participating instead of watching.”
Let her make what she wanted of that statement. At least he’d get a good read on whether she’d ever be down with both him and Ian at the same time.
She didn’t so much as blink. “So why didn’t you?”
“Join in?” he asked, surprised by her seeming acceptance.
She nodded.
“I don’t think Ian would have appreciated it,” Braden said with a small smile.
“And yet you kissed me before he ever touched me. Some might say you had more to be unappreciative about.”
“Are you saying you wanted me to join?”
“Maybe.”
“There’s no maybe about it, sweetheart,” he drawled. “Either you wanted me there or you didn’t. An extra person doesn’t just show up for sex without some preplanning.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” she said thoughtfully. “Some of the best sex is rather spontaneous, wouldn’t you say?”
As soon as she’d delivered that cryptic remark, she closed her eyes, her face creased with pain.
“Damn,” he murmured. “Ian was right. You totally overdid it.”
“If you knew how long it had been since I had sex, you wouldn’t have begrudged me,” she muttered.
He laughed and touched her face in a tender gesture. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she stared back at him with wide blue eyes.
“Want me to stick around and do the post-sex cuddling thing since Ian bailed?”
Amusement glittered deeply in her eyes. The corner of her mouth quirked up in a grin. And then her expression grew serious.
“Hey, what’s that for?” he asked.
As he waited for her answer, he stood and pulled his shirt over his head. She watched while he kicked off his boots and then began undoing his pants. When he was down to his underwear, he crawled back onto the bed and eased close to her body.
With a contented sigh, she spooned back against him, nestling her pert little ass to his aching groin. Hell, he should have jerked off before attempting this shit.
Still, she felt good against him, all limp and contented, even if he wasn’t the reason she was all limp and contented. He slid his hand down the curve of her body and settled it on her hip.
“So what was the look for?” he asked when she still hadn’t responded.
He felt her grimace. “Just an observation,” she murmured. “A nice one. I was going to say that it was cool that you and Ian were so relaxed about women. And sex. Paulo and Ricardo were psychotic. Both were jealous. Insanely so. It was what destroyed them. And nearly me,” she added softly.
Braden’s arm tightened around her, though he was careful to stay away from her wound. Her fingers found his and trembled as they cautiously slid over his palm. He twined his with hers and rested them comfortably over her middle.
“Ricardo was an egotistical ass,” Braden said darkly. “And Paulo sounded like an immature pussy.”
She shook against him then groaned when her laughter caused her pain. “Yeah, but he was good in the sack.”
Braden growled close to her ear. “I’ll show you good in the sack, woman.”
“Promises, promises,” she whispered as he grazed her ear with his teeth.
His entire groin tightened. Nice, sensitive Braden was saying: She’s exhausted, in pain and in no shape to be rode long and hard again. The Braden with blue balls was shouting: Flip her ass over and fuck her senseless.
“What I can promise is that when I make love to you, you won’t be thinking about how good Paulo de la Cruz was in bed.”
“Mmmm, I’d like to take you up on that challenge.”
“It wasn’t a challenge, sister. It was a promise.”
“Braden?”
He frowned at the thready sound of her voice. “Yeah.”
“Can we go to sleep now?”
She sounded faint, like she was already ninety percent there.
He nuzzled against her neck, his lips finding the softness against her hairline. She sighed in contentment and scooted back further against him until you couldn’t fit a hair between them.
“Yeah, baby. Go to sleep.”
“You won’t go anywhere, will you?” she asked sleepily.
He kissed her behind the ear, inhaling her sweet scent. “I’ll be right here, Katie. I’m not going anywhere.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Braden awoke with Katie sprawled across him like she owned him. Half her body was draped across his chest, her cheek pressed tight against his skin and her mouth open.
There was nothing maidenly or shy about her.
For a long time he lay there, quiet, studying her while she slept. Her hair was tousled, the strands teasing his skin. He toyed with the uneven locks, twirling them around the tips of his fingers.
She stirred against him, a restless little move that sent her soft body seeking further into his. His cock stood up and paid attention, much to his dismay.
She went still, and he felt the catch in her breath. Then she raised her head and looked up at him with sleepy, drugged eyes.
“You got a condom?”
He blinked in surprise. Of all the things he thought she might say, that wasn’t it. His chest shook with laughter, but he kept his lips tight to prevent any sound from escaping.
Her eyes narrowed, but he caught a glint of amusement sparkling in their depths.
“If you tell me that’s just your usual morning hard-on and that I have nothing to do with it, I’m going to be deeply offended.”
“Oh, it’s all you,” he said. “And yeah, I have a condom. Give me a sec to go get it.”
He carefully extricated himself from her body and strode out of the room. He found Ian asleep on the couch in the living room, and a distinct chill in the air. Damn, but it was cold.
Sparing his brother only a quick glance and a whispered directive for him to sleep a while longer, he dug into his pack for one of the condoms and then headed back to the bedroom.
He paused inside the doorway to shed his underwear. Katie watched from the bed, her eyes tracking his every movement. His hand curled around his heavy erection, and he worked up and down in a slow, steady motion.
Hunger flashed in her eyes, and a bolt of awareness sizzled through his groin. He walked over to the bed, tossed the condom onto the pillow and then climbed back onto the mattress. She covered him immediately, her body warm and supple. She fit. So damn perfect.
She reached for the condom and rapidly tore the wrapper off. With deft fingers, she rolled it over his dick, and he nearly groaned at the restriction.
“You don’t want foreplay?” he asked with a raised eyebrow as she moved to straddle him.
“What I want is to fuck you,” she said in a voice tight with desire.
“Oh hell, I think I just fell in love,” he murmured.
He helped her by spanning her waist with his big hands and positioning her so she didn’t hurt herself. Then he allowed his fingers to wander up her lush body to cup her breasts.
She leaned up, did a tight little fidget and then sheathed him.
They both groaned. His entire body tightened and spazzed out. He felt like he was going to twitch right out of his skin.
“You have to move, baby,” he said as he lifted her hips. “Oh, yeah, like that. Just like that.” He expelled all of his breath in one long sigh.
She rolled forward and then back, undulating her pelvis so that her pussy rippled over every inch of his cock.