Fast & Loose by Elizabeth Bevarly (the giving tree read aloud .txt) 📕

mouth, and as he licked and tugged at her nipple, he guided his finger into her slick canal. Lulu closed her eyes and bit her lip, waiting for him to repeat the action. When he did, she moaned in pleasure and tilted her head back. He moved the finger again, this time sucking her flesh deep, deep into his mouth. Lulu felt an almost forgotten heat building in her midsection, spiraling tighter with every passing moment.

So long. It had been so long since she’d felt this way…

Just as she was about to give herself over to the tight little circles in her belly, Cole withdrew his hand and moved it forward, this time dipping it between her legs in front. Instinctively, Lulu opened them as wide as she could in the cramped confines of the car, but it was enough to allow him ample exploration. He slipped his fingers under the fabric of her panties and into her damp flesh, stroking her, flicking her, entering her again. She covered his hand with her own and guided his movements, broadening and increasing his strokes, pushing his finger deeper and faster inside her. As he penetrated her, she dragged her own fingers over herself, increasing her pleasure, and together, they brought her to a shattering climax. Lulu cried out in her completion, her entire body convulsing in the aftermath, then collapsed against Cole’s shoulder.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Cole removed his hand from her panties but left it between her legs, brushing his fingers gently and slowly along the insides of her thighs. It was a tender gesture, one meant to bring her down more gradually, something a lot of men—even those with whom she’d had what she considered fairly serious relationships—had never bothered to do. For a long moment, she only let herself feel him surrounding her, stroking her thighs, brushing his mouth along her neck. Eventually, though, she had to come back to herself. And when she did, she immediately wished she hadn’t. Hadn’t come back. Hadn’t left in the first place. Hadn’t allowed to happen what had happened.

Oh, God, what had she done? She’d just shared something with Cole—had experienced something with Cole—that she hadn’t with men she’d been much more serious about. This wasn’t like her. Lulu Flannery was cautious to a fault. She didn’t have orgasms on the front seat of rented cars while parked with a guy she’d barely known a week. Cole brought out that thing in her she’d thought she could keep leashed, and all he’d had to do was kiss her. She didn’t want that thing driving her, didn’t want it roaming free when she couldn’t contain it. Because it might lead to things like…

Well. Like having orgasms on the front seat of rented cars while parked with a guy she’d barely known a week.

As delicately as she could, Lulu crawled off his lap and to the other side of the car. Then she pushed her dress back down over her legs and pulled the top back up over her breast. She pushed her hair out of her eyes, straightened her posture, pressed the back of her hand to her mouth. And never once did she look at Cole. She couldn’t imagine what he was thinking. Unless maybe it was that he’d just gotten a lot more for his money than he’d anticipated.

For a moment, neither of them said a word. Then Cole draped an arm across the back of the seat and scooted across to her side, too. So Lulu looked out the window and pretended she was somewhere else.

Not one to run from the facts, however, Cole leaned in close and said, very softly, “Are you okay?”

She managed to nod, but said nothing.

“’Cause you suddenly don’t seem okay.”

“I’m fine,” she said. But the words came out rough and hoarse.

He said nothing for a moment, then, even more quietly than before, he said, “There’s nothing wrong with what just happened, you know.” When she said nothing in response, he added, “I mean, it was a lot more than a kiss, but…”

Still, she remained silent, looking out the window. So he reached across her and pressed his hand to her cheek, gently turning her head to look at him.

“If it’s any consolation, nothing like this has ever happened to me, either.” He lifted a shoulder and let it drop, then offered a small smile. “Well, not since I was seventeen, anyway.”

“It’s not that, Cole,” she said softly.

“Then what?”

“That…what just happened…that’s not me.”

“News flash, Lulu,” he said just as softly. “That was you.”

She shook her head. “No, I mean, I don’t do things like…like that. Ever.”

He gave that small smile again. “If you’re trying to flatter me, it’s working.”

She wanted to laugh at the comment. Really, she did. But she couldn’t. She wished she could shrug off what had happened the way he had. Wished she could make light of it, the way he was. But what had happened went way too deep for her to be able to do that. She felt too many things right now, and she felt them deeply, and she couldn’t make sense of any of them.

“Will you take me home now?” she said instead. “Please? Bree’s home. For real this time.”

He opened his mouth to say something, seemed to think twice about whatever it was, and closed it again. He only nodded silently, moved back over to his side of the car, and turned the key in the ignition.

They said not a word on the drive to Bree’s apartment, and when Cole told Lulu he would walk her up, she didn’t argue. After she unlocked the door, she turned to tell him good night, and he pulled her into his arms. He kissed her gently, tenderly, affectionately. A warm glow ignited deep in Lulu’s belly at the embrace, but she kept it banked low until he pulled back again.

However, he didn’t go far.

He dipped his head to press his forehead against hers and cupped his