Tastes Like Candy

Ten

Ten

Candy

He did succumb to sleep, eventually, the heavy, dreamless sleep of the truly tired. He woke when he felt something tickling down his nose. Disoriented, his eyes snapped open and were filled with a pretty female face.

Michelle.

Her dorm.

The sex.

His stomach unclenched. "Hi, baby."

She was tracing the ridge of his nose with a fingertip, and withdrew her hand now, tucking it beneath her cheek on the pillow. "I didn't mean to wake you." Her eyes were big and liquid-soft, glowing in the dim light.

He gave her his patented cocky grin, the one he gave the ladies. "You shoulda done it sooner."

She rolled her eyes.

He chuckled. "That shit isn't gonna work on you, is it?"

"Decidedly not."

"Chelle."

She went very still, gaze darting back to his face. That nickname was special to her, he knew. He had no idea if she liked or loathed him using it. "You said that before. During." She swallowed with visible effort.

"You don't want me to use it?" he guessed.

"No...I...you can use it." Her voice grew faint. "I...I like it. I think."

He was filled with sudden tenderness. "I didn't hurt you, did I, sweetheart?"

She gave him a small smile, eyes still intense. "Only in the best way."

"Really, though."

"You didn't hurt me." She pressed her hand to his chest, over his heart. "Not physically, anyway."

So the little hardass had a romantic side after all. He'd suspected as much. "I didn't give you the regular girl treatment, I promise you."

"Should I be flattered?" But her eyes told him she was.

"You should trust me when I say I'm not ever going to hurt you on purpose." And he knew, in that moment, that he spoke the truth. His habits with women weren't relevant here; Michelle wasn't just "a woman."

She snuggled down into her pillow, watching him, silent and calculating as a cat.

"I'm not lying to you."

"I know you're not," she said, softly. "It's only...I didn't think this would happen."

"Yeah."

"So what now?"

"Well, this is my house, so I can do whatever I want. What I wanna do right now is go back to sleep, and wake you up in a little bit, and see if I can get you all hot and wet again."

She caught her lip between her teeth. She liked that idea. She liked it a lot. But she said, "We probably shouldn't, though."

"Why not? Because you stuffy Brits don't like to have fun?" he teased.

She scrunched up her nose. "No. Because we'll probably..." She trailed off, eyes widening, like she had just realized something.

"Probably what?"

"...probably be talked about," she finished, gaze growing faraway. "It's always been a kind of secret, you see." She gestured between them. "Men and me. It was never..." She chewed at her lip, this time in faint distress.