Page 75 of The Rut in the Road

“W-what are you doing?” I half whispered.

“Do you want me to stop?” As he asked the question, his hands stilled, although he didn’t take them away.

I shook my head. “No!”

The hands slid closer to the inside of my thighs as he chuckled in my ear. “Then does it matter?” he asked, pressing a little to push me back against his body. I swallowed at the feeling of him pressing hard against my ass.

I shook my head again. “N-no,” I managed on a half-gasp as one hand ran over my open fly.

He kissed the back of my neck. “Then you should keep washing,” he said softly, his lips moving against my skin.

“O-okay.”

I took a steadying breath, then moved the large plate into the soapy water, letting out a small sound of mingled frustration and desire as he slid one hand into my khakis and over the knit cotton of my thin boxer shorts. I clenched my teeth, focusing in on the plate, the swirl of cheese and ketchup still stuck to the ceramic. Focusing on using the dishrag to scrub in a circle across the surface of the plate, whimpering as Raj’s hand mimicked the movement.

“I had no idea dishes could be this fucking sexy,” he breathed into my hair.

I let out a strangled sound that might have had a laugh in it, making one last pass over the plate with the soapy cloth.

Rinse.

I closed my eyes, momentarily overwhelmed by what Raj was doing to me.

I heard him draw in a breath to speak.

“I’m doing them,” I told him, the words coming out breathy and fast.

He laughed, a low, rumbled chuckle that gave me a funny sensation in my toes.

I reached out for the next plate, then nearly dropped it when he wrapped a hand around me and squeezed. “Raj!”

“What?” he asked, although I could tell from his tone that he was teasing.

“You’re going to make me break a plate,” I told him, following my very serious pronouncement with a moan as he tightened his fingers again.

“If I do,” he murmured, “I’ll buy you a new one.”

“They’re expensive,” I informed him. “Psychic-safe.” Yet that somehow didn’t seem nearly as important right now as it normally would.God, his hand felt good.

He let out a soft hum, gently tugging me out of my boxers. His other hand slid up under my shirt, his palm hot against my skin. “You’re worth it,” he told me, nuzzling the back of my neck again.

Somehow, I neither broke a plate nor stabbed myself with a fork or knife. I was also panting by the time I finished the dishes, pulled out the drain plug, and rinsed the sink and dishrag.

“I’m done,” I told Raj, expecting him to pull me to the bedroom, or at least the beanbag chair.

“Not yet,” he growled back, then shoved me back against the edge of the counter, dropping to his knees and drawing me into his mouth before I had a chance to ask him what he was doing.

I gasped, legs trembling, and sank my fingers into his thick, dark hair. “Raj.”

He let out a grumbling growl, the vibrations sending a series of shudders through me. His hands pulled at my hips, ensuring that I couldn’t have gotten away if I’d wanted to—I didn’t.

God, I didn’t.

My stomach felt tight, heat pooling low in my belly. “Raj—” I gasped out.

He growled again, shifting his weight.

I briefly wondered whether or not his knees were bothered by the kitchen floor, and then I felt his shoulder move against my thigh and I realized what he was doing.