┏━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┓

┗━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┛

I was still laughing, thinking about his reaction and little scream when he stepped right under the pouring rain without realizing it. He let out a huge shriek as the water started pouring down on us before I took his hand and began pulling him to run with me.

He shook his hair out, closing the door behind me while I put my hand on the wall, pulling the strap off and kicking my heels to the side.

"You're so cute," I spun around to face him, holding both sides of his face before going high up on my toes and kissing him.

He smiled against my lips, settling his hands on my waist, squeezing firmly. I pulled away, making him groan softly as I walked backward into the room.

I was well aware that we were both still soaked to the bone, but I really didn't care. For the time being though, I still didn't sit anywhere so I wouldn't drench anything with me. "I've never heard you squeal like that," I teased him, taking my earrings off and placing them on the TV cabinet, hanging my purse on the back of the chair by the desk.

He shook his head, chuckling to himself while dropping his wallet on the cabinet. "I can't believe you made me run all the way here in the rain."

"But it's so fun to run in the rain, no?" I asked.

He lifted his eyes to mine in amusement, a smirk tugging at his lips. "With you, yes," he nodded, unhooking his watch and leaving it beside his wallet.

I opened our curtains just enough for me to look out as a loud rumble of thunder echoed outside. The sound came here muffled but it was still audible.

He began unrolling his sleeves and then unbuttoning his shirt. "God, we're soaked, Poppy. Shouldn't you change? Before you catch a cold," he chuckled.

"I won't catch a cold," I reassured him.

"You're prone to colds."

My brows shot up. "How do you know that?" A grin tugged at my lips.

"I've noticed at work. You get a lot of colds during winter and the one-off time that you get drenched in the rain." He walked back to the thermostat, his shirt still on and sheer on him except now it was unbuttoned. He turned the temperature up by a few more degrees before walking into the bathroom and shrugging his shirt off.

Housekeeping left the bathroom blinds up after cleaning like they usually do, but Josh didn't bother to pull them down.

He shrugged his shirt off, squeezed out all the extra water before shaking it out and hanging it on the pegs above the bathtub on the towel rack. He came back out, looking at me. "Get changed, go. Should I pull the blinds down?"

"I'm going, give me a minute," I bit back a grin, watching him, my eyes raking up and down his naked chest and abs.

He laughed to himself, his hands moving to his belt. He unbuckled it, slid it out of the loops, and started wrapping it around his hand.

Watching him do that does something to me. And I'm not all that fussy with kinks and turn-ons, but I've never been so sexually, physically, even mentally attracted to any other guy. Nobody can do to me what Josh does.

"What is with you and a belt?" he asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"Hmm," he mocked, slowly walking over me, leaving the belt on the counter. His eyes glimmered with amusement, so much of it that I almost felt a little embarrassed. But it was more of a nervous and excited buzz under my skin. "Do you like the belt?" He lifted a brow at me.

"I didn't like belts until I met you, no," I shook my head, trying to play it off.

"But you do now?"

"It's a... nice belt," I cleared my throat, feeling heat rush up my neck and bleed to my cheeks.

"And where do you want it?" He was teasing me, it was so clear.

I couldn't answer him, I was stunned at my own imagination.

He bit back a laugh and held up his first two fingers. "Choose one."

"Which one's which?"

"You don't get to know. Just choose."

I deliberated before grabbing his middle finger.

His brows shot up, a smile spreading across his lips. "Spanking. Really?"

"No!" I burst out, grabbing his pointer finger before pulling his hand down. "No spanking," I laughed, giving him a slow push. "No spanking," I shook my head. "What's my other option?" I lifted a brow.

He thought before shrugging nonchalantly. "I can tie you up."

"With... a belt?"

"With a belt," he nodded in confirmation.

I didn't like how much that thought excited me. I never really thought about sex in ways like this, let alone explore it with anybody. Now, I wasn't a vanilla girl, but I never really had anybody even ask me what I liked in bed. Things would just start and in a couple of minutes, they'd be done. "Have you done this before? With another girl?"

"No comment."

"With your ex-girlfriend?"

He shook his head, smiling, "No."

"With a one-night stand?"

"I said no comment."

"How many have you had?"

"How many have you had?"

Probably more than he expected.

When I didn't answer, he stepped closer to me. "See." He chuckled, "We were single human beings in our twenties. I didn't expect your answer to be none. Leave the past in the past?"

"Agreed," I nodded.

"So..." He walked back, grabbing the belt. "Do you want to try?"

"I'm worried," I chuckled.

"Because?"

"Because you're better at this than I thought."

"Were you expecting me to be horrible in bed?" he teased.

"No. But I wasn't expecting you to be like this. You try out a lot of things?"

"Not always. I'd try anything with you though. Especially tonight."

I laughed, giving him a soft push away from me before he leaned in. "I didn't know we were having sex tonight."

"We'll see," he grinned, kissing me.

I kissed him back as he held onto me, pulling me against him, our lips moving in sync. My hand rested on the nape of his neck and I pulled away while humming, making him sigh. "Let me change," I almost giggled. "I'm soaked."

He said nothing, only smirked.

I brushed past him, rolling my eyes. I stopped, pulling the bathroom blinds down and closing the door before I grabbed a towel and dried my hair as much as I could. It was hardly damp anyway since I had it tied up. I set the towel on the counter as he knocked on the door. "It's open!"

He pushed it further and stood in the doorway, watching me through a mirror.

I met his eyes in his reflection. "Are you looking for a show?" I asked, using his words.

He nodded. "Absolutely. Not Magic Mike style, but who am I to say no to a striptease?"

I shook my head, gathering my hair and pulling it to one side, watching him in amusement. "You are unbelievable."

"No. But you are." He made his way over, asking, "Do you want help?" I didn't need his help but I nodded anyway. His hands were warm as they touched my back, his fingers grazing my skin as he grabbed the zipper, lowering it down one inch at a time.

I sucked in a shaky breath when his touch met the dip in my spine and my heart picked up its pace, now pounding beneath my ribcage. I tore my eyes away from where I stared at the counter and looked in the mirror, my gaze meeting his. I was burning under his touch and he knew it so well. Once the zipper reached the bottom, he removed his hands but never took a step back. I hesitated to reach for the strap.

"Do you want me to leave?"

I shook my head softly.

He paused and then moved forward, his bare chest pressing into my back as he put his hands on the counter. "Take it off," he told me, turning to watch me, his chin hovering above my shoulder.

Not being able to look at him, I watched him through the mirror instead, pushing the straps off my shoulders, the dress falling to my ankles with a faint ruffle of fabric. I stepped out of it, kicking it to the side.

He pressed a kiss to my shoulder before smiling against my skin. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to. So you can relax."

I felt my body ease up a little, knowing he wasn't going to push me to do something against my will. It was the bare minimum but it meant the world to me. Everything with Josh did.

He placed a few more slow kisses on my shoulder while I went back to drying my hair with a towel. His lips traveled over my shoulder blade, going to the back of my neck before he started leaving traces and ghosts of kisses down the length of my spine. I let out a breath, my heart racing again as I left the towel on the counter and put my hands down, holding the edge so tightly, my fingers ached a little.

"Should I stop?" he whispered.

"No," I mumbled.

His hands found my waist as he placed a kiss on my neck while pulling me into him.

"Josh," I breathed out softly.

He hummed against me, making my stomach flip.

"If you're just teasing me, then you should know, I don't appreciate it."

"Is that what you think I'm doing?"

"I don't know. Are you?"

He sighed softly, spinning me around to face him. "Am I?" His eyes traveled up from my legs, up my torso and chest, lingering for a beat too long before meeting my gaze. "I don't think I'm the tease. You are."

"Why is that?"

"Unless you always wear matching lingerie," he smiled, leaning forward, his body brushing against mine.

"Maybe I do," I lifted a brow.

He nodded but he knew that was a lie. "Sure." Settling his hands on my waist, his thumb drew circles over my hip bone and I was fighting every urge to arch into him. "Can I take off the white lace bra then?" he asked.

"Do you want to?"

"You have no idea how badly," he answered honestly.

"Go ahead," I said after a pause.

He held my gaze as he removed one hand, sliding up from my tailbone to my back, finding the clasp of my bra. He didn't kiss me or do anything but watch me as he unhooked it with that one hand.

"I really don't want to know how many times you've done this to unhook that with one hand. Sometimes, even I can't do that," I pointed out.

"Don't ruin the moment," he smiled, shaking his head, tugging one strap halfway down my shoulder before leaning in to kiss me. He slid both straps off, pulling the bra away, dropping it somewhere on the floor. He didn't pull away right away to look at me, if anything, he drew the kiss out and that reassured me that he wasn't just doing this to sleep with me.

I don't know if that's what he was trying to do, but it helped my nerves. When he did pull away, my body was still flush against his. "See. Now we're even," he beamed at me. "You don't want to do this in the bathroom, do you?" His brows furrowed.

"No," I chuckled, resting my arms around his neck.

"Good," he nodded, kissing me again and slowly walking out of there backward. Once we neared the bed, he gently pushed me towards it, still not breaking the kiss, only deepening it, until we reached the foot of the bed. He pulled away and held onto my waist, pushing me to sit down in front of him.

I caught my breath. My heart felt like it would explode.

"We'll skip the belt, maybe," he smirked, kneeling in front of me.

I nodded breathlessly. "Maybe."

His lips met mine yet again and as he shifted up, I lay down until he hovered above me. My hands moved towards him but he pinned them down pretty quickly, locking his fingers with mine. "How good are you at following the rules, Ms. Valentine?"

"Horrible," I answered.

He smiled, kissing me briefly before moving down to my neck, kissing harder, his teeth grazing my skin every few seconds. "Do you think you can follow mine?"

"Maybe," I exhaled. "Try me."

He pulled away, looking down at me. "No screaming."

"Not a screamer," I shook my head.

"Even better," he chuckled. "No moving."

I paused, staring at him, frozen. "What?"

"Try," he mused. "And no touching."

"Touching you?"

He nodded.

"Are you kidding?"

"No. And the last one."

I stared at him in anticipation.

"You have to tell me when you're close."

This is how I die. I know exactly what he's about to do to me.

"You're about to torture me, aren't you?"

He grinned, leaning back down and pressing a kiss right below my ear. "A little. I swear you'll love it."

I had no doubt.

"Do I have your word, Valentine?"

"Yes," I nodded, swallowing nervously. "You do."

"Good girl," he whispered against my ear.

Regret. Instant regret. I couldn't follow his rules and we both knew it. Worse? He wasn't about to make this any easier.

He started sliding lower, his lips leaving trails of kisses everywhere. He kissed harder the lower he got, sucking and biting wherever he pleased, making me seal my eyes shut tightly.

I wanted to move, I wanted to touch him, but he wouldn't let me. I didn't want to find out what would happen if I broke his rules. But I wanted to ask. "Josh," I gasped and began to sit up slowly as he pressed a kiss to my hipbone, hooking his thumbs under the waistband of my underwear.

"Yes, darling?"

A ghost of a moan escaped me as I fell back onto the bed.

"Poppy, focus," he ordered, coming back up, tucking my hair behind my ear, giving me a minute to breathe.

"What happens if I break a rule?" I questioned.

He leaned down to my ear, whispering, "I'll punish you," with a taunting grin.

I formed fists around the sheets before he moved back down.

He stopped, fingers on my waistband. "Can I take it off, please?"

I couldn't help but giggle softly, lifting my head to look at him. "You're sweet."

He chuckled, resting his arms on my knees. "I thought I told you not to move."

"I can't even look?"

"Oh, you want to, do you? Is this what you like? Me on my knees?"

I nodded cheekily. He snapped my waistband, making me wince softly before laughing. "You can take it off," I told him.

He grinned and I put my head back down as he kissed where my waistband hit me before sliding my underwear down, tapping my thigh twice. "Lift your hips."

It's hard not to listen to him.

He grabbed the back of my knees, jerking me closer to the edge of the bed, making me gasp. He had barely kissed my inner thighs after spreading my knees apart when I moved. I couldn't help it.

He stopped, making me groan softly in frustration and he wasn't even doing anything yet. "I will tie you up if you don't listen," he warned me.

I wouldn't mind, but I mumbled an apology and tried to stay as still as possible as he eased himself back down, lips grazing up my inner thighs. I wasn't expecting it when he finally kissed me there and I almost arched off the bed before telling myself to lay the fuck back down.

He went in harder and the way he went about it all, I knew he relished it. For him, me enjoying this was just a bonus. He loved it. He did everything right and nobody has ever made me feel so ravished and worshiped at the same time.

I felt everything and it took everything in me to follow his stupid rules. The first one wasn't too bad because realistically, nobody actually screams in sex. At least, I haven't and I wouldn't want to. It's the soft moans, pants, and gasps that his tongue is drawing out of me that I loved. Writhing a bit before him, I whimpered softly, clenching my jaw. "Josh, please," I cried out softly.

"Use your words, love," he mumbled against me before going in even harder.

"Please, I'm close."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yes, so close," I gasped before groaning loudly as he stopped. I lifted my head, glaring at him. "What are you doing?"

He smirked, "Stopping."

"Why?"

"To make it last."

I began sitting up as he rose higher onto his knees and when I sat up, we were face to face, less than an inch away from each other. "You're killing me," I whispered breathlessly.

"Do you like it?"

"I love it," I admitted as I caught my breath while he inched closer, kissing and nipping at my neck.

He waited a couple of minutes before putting a hand over my rib cage, pushing me back, ordering, "Lay down and don't move."

.

.

.

.

.