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  into the side of my neck. "Say it, Paige."

  I tipped into the swirling oblivion of orgasm, and I gave

  him what he wanted with his name, if he could decipher it

  from the moan. But I also let go of the headboard. My

  nails raked his back as I came again, as hard the second

  time as the first. Harder, maybe, because I was bringing

  blood and he cried out as he pumped inside me as he

  came, too.

  Austin shuddered. His arms slid beneath me, clutching me

  tight. He burrowed his face harder into my skin. And he

  just held me that way for what seemed like a very long

  time.

  I had to unwrap my legs from around his waist after a few

  minutes to ease the cramp in my hips, but I didn't unwind

  my arms from around his back. His weight on me was

  more comforting than claustrophobic. When he finaly

  pushed himself off me, he only roled to the side with one

  arm and leg thrown over my body.

  Now he would sleep, I thought.

  But he didn't. Austin moved to get rid of the rubber in a

  nearby garbage can, then slipped right back to where he'd

  been. His hand moved lazily up and down my body in

  smooth, flat strokes.

  "Paige."

  "Yes," I said after a second.

  "I thought you liked it when I was a little rough." His hand centered over my contented cunt, his fingers dipping into

  my wel.

  I wasn't squeamish about post-fucking cuddles or anything

  leading up to a potential round two, but when Austin

  stroked my pussy, I put a hand over his to stop the

  motion. "Is that why you did it?"

  He didn't look at me. His breath puffed hot on my

  shoulder and he kissed me. His lips pressed my skin. His

  fingertip settled on my clit and circled lightly. I'd had two

  orgasms and my body wasn't ready for another, or so I

  thought. As his hand moved, tension stirred inside me.

  "Is it?" I drew in a breath but kept my voice even.

  "Austin?"

  "Wel, shit, Paige. Yeah. Of course." He sounded insulted.

  I put my hand over his again, though what he was doing

  was starting to work. "Look at me."

  He did. I hadn't noticed the shadows under his eyes

  before. Faintly blue, they made him look older. Wel, he

  was. We both were.

  "I thought you liked it rough, that's al."

  "Did it look like I wasn't enjoying myself?" I didn't want to defend my orgasms to him. I didn't want to think he'd done

  something for my sake that he hadn't wanted to do for his

  own.

  Pushing him off me, I got out of bed and gathered my

  clothes. I dialed the cab company and arranged for a ride

  home. Austin watched me without puling up the sheets or

  making a move toward his own clothes. When I looked at

  him, his expression had gone inscrutable. That was as

  familiar as everything else had been, and I figured

  whatever glitch in his operating system had made him ask

  me those questions had been fixed.

  "Why did you come over here?" he asked, loud in the

  quiet. "Realy?"

  I stepped into my panties and puled them up, then zipped

  my skirt, too. "I came over here to do just what we just

  did."

  "Just to fuck me?"

  "Yes, Austin," I told him. "What else did you think I wanted?"

  "Nothing." He roled to grab the remote from the

  nightstand and I discreetly ogled his ass and the sweet

  backs of his thighs—places I'd bite, if I had more time.

  "Forget I asked."

  "Are you getting pissy with me?" I straightened my shirt

  and ran my fingers through my hair to shake it into some

  semblance of order. "No, you are not. Are you?

  Seriously?"

  "No." Austin, his jaw set, kept his gaze on the television.

  "No." Austin, his jaw set, kept his gaze on the television.

  He punched the buttons of the remote so fast I knew he

  couldn't possibly be able to see more than a second or

  two of each program before moving on.

  "Because I'l tel you what, if you're going to give me an

  attitude every time I come over here to fuck you, I'm not

  going to bother anymore." I stepped into my shoes. "That

  cake is baked."

  Now he looked at me. "Huh?"

  "That cake," I said carefuly, "is baked. Done. Over.

  Finished."

  "Iced?" One corner of his lips turned up, but only a little.

  He was maybe the only person who'd ever realy "gotten"

  me. It was why we fought so hard and fucked so good.

  He knew every button to push.

  "Yeah. Iced."

  He shrugged, looking back at the television, but his mouth

  stil quirked. "If you say so."

  "Austin." I waited until he looked at me. "Don't make me

  "Austin." I waited until he looked at me. "Don't make me regret this, okay? You know what this is."

  He shrugged again, the brief glint of a smile fading. His

  finger stabbed the remote as he cycled through al bazilion

  cable stations. I thought about kissing him before I left. I

  even took a few steps toward the bed, but when he turned

  to look right at me, I stopped.

  "I'l let myself out. No, no, don't bother getting out of bed,"

  I said, though he hadn't done so much as shift. "I'l do it."

  I was already out the door and into the hal and at the head

  of the stairs when he caled after me.

  "That's not al it is!"

  I stopped, my hand on the newel post of his stairs. There

  were half a dozen retorts, but none of them made it past

  my tongue. At the bottom, the smooth banister shoved a

  splinter into my palm and I muttered a curse as I plucked it

  free. That would teach me, I thought as I let myself out of

  his house and onto the street, where the cab was already

  waiting.

  Chapter 05

  Daylight teased the sky by the time I made it home. I paid

  the cabdriver and ignored the way he ogled my thighs

  when I stepped onto the curb. I didn't want to be sorry I'd

  gone to bed with Austin even though I'd said I wouldn't.

  The sex had been too good, as good as it can be only with

  someone who already knows you, but I'd started a new

  life, with a new job and a new apartment, in a new city. I

  wanted new habits, too, and Austin was definitely not one

  of those.

  I wanted a man who'd gone to colege. Who had a career,

  not a job. One who owned a car and paid bils on time

  and wore clothes that matched. A professional man, not

  one who smoked and drank and cheated, or one who'd

  run up the credit card and skipped out into the night

  without leaving a note. Not one who wrecked my car

  because he didn't have one of his own.

  I wanted a man, not a boy in a man-suit.

  You're unfair to me, Austin had accused me more than

  once. I'm not like those guys.

  Those guys. The men my mother dated. No, he wasn't like

  those guys. At least not mostly. But I'd always been

  waiting for him to turn into one. Maybe he was right and

  I'd been unfair, but he'd done his share of shitty things even

  when he knew they'd hurt me. Hel. I'd done