Page 54 of I Hate You More

“If it’s all right with you, I’d rather make love the old-fashioned way,” he said. “I’d really like to be inside you when I come.”

Her hand dropped from his. He was afraid that he’d said something wrong, but she replaced her hand with her whole being.

That was what it felt like, anyway, her arms around his neck and her chest pressed against his. He was painfully aware of her half nudity, of her fluttering dress and naked belly, of the soft swell of her almost-naked breasts against his skin. None of that seemed to matter, however, when she lifted her mouth to his and began relentlessly kissing him. He still tasted of her, but that didn’t seem to matter as her mouth sought his. Her hands were once again tangled in his hair, but instead of holding him between her legs, she was holding him in her arms.

This kiss was entirely of Ruby’s making, so Spencer allowed himself the luxury of letting her take over. His whole body ached with the need to be inside her, but not nearly as much as his chest ached to have her so willingly and enthusiastically near.

“Just when I think you can’t get any better, you go and say something like that.” She sucked in a deep and gasping breath as he pulled away. “Yes, Spencer. You can take me to the bedroom and do whatever you want with me. I’m completely yours.”

He hadn’t been lying when he said he’d stayed in the guest room before. It was tiny, more of a closet than an actual bedroom, with a full-size bed against one wall and piles of outgrown baby toys in the other, but that didn’t seem to matter as he and Ruby shoved their way inside. Just having her spread out on a bed in front of him was enough. She’d shed the rest of her clothes somewhere along the way, her naked body a vision from every angle. There was no inhibition in her, no attempt to shield or apologize for anything she had to offer. Spencer suspected it had to do with having been on display in some form or another since she was a kid, but he also attributed it to something innate in Ruby. She possessed something so sublimely accepting, a lack of concern for mundane things like breasts and nipples and legs so long he thought he might get lost in them.

“Fuck me,” he said, unable to look away from her.

“I’m trying. If you don’t mind a few pointers, I suggest you start by taking off your clothes. We can see where the mood takes us from there.”

He chuckled and complied. As he had that day in his house, he felt little hesitation or reserve in disrobing in front of her. He wasn’t normally so bold when it came to showing off his body, but something about the way Ruby watched him stripped him of all his reserve. There was that smile playing about the corners of her mouth—the one that didn’t think he’d actually go through with it—as well as an appreciation that set fire to his veins once he finally did.

She wanted this. She wanted him.

Him.Spencer Wilson, the lesser twin, the sober veterinarian, the uptight dog-show judge.

“You know you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, right?” he asked as he made quick work of removing his clothes. He was pretty sure he’d lost a few buttons in the process, and it was going to be difficult to find where he’d thrown his socks, but he couldn’t find it in him to care.

Right now, in this moment, he was going to enjoy the hell out of himself.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” she said with a pointed look at the erection that had finally sprung free.

He shook his head. “I’m not just talking about your body parts. I don’t know what it is, Ruby, but when I look at you, I feel…”

It would have been very easy to leave things there, to lower himself to the bed and to the pleasures awaiting him, but he wanted to get this part out first. Sensing it, Ruby lifted herself on one elbow. “What?” she asked, her brows beginning to knit. “What do you feel when you look at me?”

“That beauty is the last thing I care about,” he said and immediately took it back. “Wait—no. That isn’t it.”

Hedidcare about beauty. He always had. When he saw a line of perfectly coiffed and trained show dogs, all of them the best examples of their breed, he felt something click inside him. He liked how predictable their points were, how ordered the rules of their existence. Any person from any background could look at them and determine who was the most beautiful of all.

But it wasn’t until they started moving that Spencer really fell in love. All those little personality quirks that no amount of good breeding could hide, the stamina and drive to perform for hours on end, the way a dog would sometimes look at him… They knew. The dogs knew he was there to judge them, that he was watching them through cynical eyes.

And the ones he really liked, the ones he always chose as winners, lifted their heads and kept going anyway.

“You don’t let anyone tell you how to live your life,” he said. It wasn’t very sexy talk between two very naked, very eager people, but like those dogs he admired, he kept going anyway. “You don’t take no for an answer. You set your sights on a thing and then you go after it with a determination unlike any I’ve ever seen.”

“Um, thank you?”

His laugh came out in a whoosh of relieved air. His fumbled attempts at a compliment hadn’t caused her to run screaming from the room yet, so he must be on the right track.

“I admire the hell out of you, Ruby,” he said, finally drawing close enough to touch her. He didn’t reach for the jutting breasts or the curve of her waist, and he avoided her thighs like they might burn him. Instead, he cupped the side of her face, allowing his thumb to trace the pattern of her softly parted lips. “That’s all I’m trying to say.”

She took his thumb inside her mouth at the exact same moment she took hold of his erection.Oneof those things would have been enough to drive him out of his mind, which meant the simultaneous sensation rendered him all but useless.

Since he hadn’t been kidding about how short a time he had before he lost all sense of self-restraint, he lowered himself to the bed. He would have been happy to stand forever, with Ruby stroking him inside and out, but he really did want to do things properly.

In this instance,properwas anything but. The moment his body stretched out along the length of hers, Spencer was reduced to nothing but sensation. Everywhere he touched was soft skin and undulating waves of appreciation. She opened her mouth to kiss him, opened her arms to embrace him, widened her legs to entrap him. She never stopped moving or moaning. Even when she did slow down enough to allow him to trace the outline of her nipple or dip a finger between her legs, her body provided more than enough response for her.

“If you know about this secret sex room, I don’t suppose you also know if Eva and Maury keep condoms anywhere, do you?” Ruby asked. Her breath was coming in short, panting bursts by this time, which was a lot better than Spencer was doing, since he was so light-headed that he was pretty sure he hadn’t drawn any oxygen into his lungs at all.

It took him a moment to recall his surroundings.

Guest bedroom. Eva’s house. Condoms.