Never a Hero

have. I turned to him, straddling his lap. “I never have seen your ink.”
    “You can see it without sitting on my lap.”
    “What fun would that be?”
    “Owen, this is a bad idea.”
    “So what? You eat bland popcorn. You don’t drink. You don’t even believe in Halloween candy.” I slid my hand under his shirt, up his smooth stomach. He sucked in his breath, and his eyes drifted shut. I leaned forward and kissed his jaw. “Do something dangerous. Let me see.”
    “Oh Jesus, Owen. I really should leave.”
    He didn’t leave, though, and when I began to tug on his shirt, he helped me pull it up, over his head. He moaned when I put my hand on his bare chest.
    His tats were mostly black. V-shaped birds rose from his waistband, across his chest, over one shoulder. The opposite shoulder was half-covered with some kind of intricate knot-like pattern, obviously unfinished. I traced the birds with my fingertips, from the top down. As my fingers made their way down his stomach, his hands clenched on my thighs. His breathing quickened.
    I leaned close, wondering if I had enough nerve to do more.
    “Owen,” he said, his voice hoarse and rough. “Jesus, I shouldn’t be doing this. I should have let you go home with that kid.”
    “I didn’t want him. I want you.”
    “I can’t.”
    “Yes, you can.”
    “I’ve spent the last five years making sure I didn’t end up in situations like this, but four weeks with you, and every ounce of restraint I’ve ever had is gone.”
    “I don’t want you to have restraint.” I put my right arm around his neck. I put my forehead against his. “I want you to kiss me.”
    He groaned, and I knew I was close. I knew that whatever reasons he had for denying me were crumbling beneath the weight of our shared desire. I steeled all of my nerve and pressed my lips against his.
    It wasn’t much of a kiss, both of us frozen there, but I felt his resolve fail. He moaned, and in that one second, our lips touching and my heart thundering in my ears, he surrendered. He went soft against me and opened his mouth. His tongue teased my lips, asking for entrance, and I granted it. I parted my lips and let him in.
    It felt like being claimed. I could have come right then. The sheer joy of it, his tongue invading my mouth, the taste of him and the weight of his strong body as he shifted our positions, bearing down on me. He pushed me back onto the couch, straddling my hips, pinning me beneath him. He kissed me harder, sucking at my upper lip, but when I slid my hand down his stomach, toward the buttons on his jeans, he stopped me. He grabbed my wrist and pinned it to the couch at my side.
    “My way,” he said, his voice thick with arousal. “I call the shots here. No questions. No arguing.”
    I didn’t know exactly what he meant by that, but looking into his eyes, I saw no room for argument. I had no idea what I was about to agree to—if he’d pull out a leather hood or order me to my knees—but at that moment, I didn’t care. “Anything.”
    He smiled, and although he still held my wrist, his grip became a caress. He leaned down to brush his lips across mine. “You have no idea how many times I’ve thought about doing this.”
    I could only whimper as he kissed me again, not with the urgency of before, but with a gentleness that surprised me. He began to explore me, running his hands up and down my body, moaning against my lips as I arched into his touch. It was the most sensuous torture imaginable, the way his hands moved, never undressing me, but teasing over my stomach, my nipples, down my arms, yet rarely touching my bare flesh. Never moving to the parts of me that longed most for his attention.
    “Let me touch you,” I begged. He was still straddling me, and I could feel his erection through his jeans. “Please.”
    He sat up suddenly, and I worried that I’d angered him—that he was going to stop—but instead, he smiled at me. It was the sexiest, most flirtatious smile I’d ever seen on his face. “I think we can do better than the couch, don’t you?”
    I didn’t care where we were. The couch, the floor. Anywhere was fine with me, so I didn’t object when he took my hand and led me to the bedroom. He undressed me quickly, pulling at my clothes until I stood naked and self-conscious before him, my erection sticking out in front of me.
    “You’re perfect,” he said, kissing me, running his strong hands up my back. “I could lick you all over.”
    I