Smoke Signals by Catherine Gayle Read Free Book Online Page A

want to be found again, either…at least not any time soon.
    I rocked my hips against hers, using my hands to explore her body. I might not know her well on a personal level, but before the night was over I’d know her intimately on a physical level.
    Her hands were on me, too. She kept grabbing my ass, bringing me closer to her. She sucked in a breath, the sound sharp and hiss-like next to my ear. I didn’t have the opportunity to worry about what that meant, because she kept exploring my ass, one finger on the verge of going into no-man’s land.
    I let out a groan, shocked at the sensation.
    Her breathing was erratic, and she bucked her hips up toward me. “Fuck me hard. Fast. I need…”
    At the moment, I’d do anything she asked of me. I increased my pace, elated that she was finally asking for what she wanted. “Tell me what you need, beautiful.”
    She sucked another breath in through her teeth. “I need you to come.”
    This time, I noticed the shaking in her voice. Like she was struggling. Like she was in pain.
    I stilled and lifted my head so I could see her. She still had that fucking mask in place, her eyes not betraying a goddamned thing.
    Except for her tears.
    They were huge, filling her eyes and pouring down her cheeks as though they were in a race to the finish.
    “Am I hurting you?” I demanded, not waiting for an answer. “I am. Why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you stop me?” Not only had she not done a damn thing to get me to stop, but she’d been egging me on. Trying to get me to fuck her faster and harder. Hell, even now, she was reaching for me, clenching her thighs to hold me in place. I rolled off her. No chance was I going to keep at it while she was lying there crying, no matter how hard she tried to pretend everything was all right.
    Nothing was all right. Everything about this was fucked up beyond belief.
    She shook her head, her jaw clenched tight as her tears continued to roll. “Just finish. Let me help you come.”
    “What the hell are you talking about? Christ, Tori.” I sat up and brushed the hair back from her forehead, trying to figure out what the hell was going on inside her head.
    Why wouldn’t she tell me I was hurting her? Instead of trying to hurry me along, why hadn’t she told me to go fuck myself and get off her? But there was nothing in her eyes that could explain any of it. Only pain and tears.
    “It’s okay,” she insisted. “It’s always— It’s okay. It’s fine.” The tears didn’t stop, though, no matter how much she tried to make her argument.
    The more she cried, the angrier I got. At her, for not telling me to go to hell. At myself, for not paying better attention and realizing there was a problem sooner. At every fucking bastard who’d played a part in leading her into the life she’d been living for the last few years. I was angry at the whole fucking world.
    I bent over and kissed her on the forehead, then got out of the bed and went to the bathroom to wet a cloth. While I was in there, I ripped off the condom and tossed it in the trash. Wouldn’t be needing that any longer. I carried the cloth back into the bedroom and handed it to her.
    “Why don’t you clean yourself up and we’ll get some sleep, huh? Tomorrow’s a new day.” A busy new day, with Babs’s wedding. There wouldn’t be a hell of a lot of time for me to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with Tori. I didn’t even have the first clue as to where I should start.
    She sniffled, but she sat up slowly—gingerly—and used the cloth to clean herself. Her tears were slowing down by the time she faced me again and passed the cloth back. She looked down at my cock, nodding. “I can help—”
    “No, you can’t,” I interrupted, a lot more harshly than I’d intended.
    I tossed the washcloth onto the bathroom floor, then washed my hands before returning to the bedroom to find her sitting on the edge of the bed, her arms wrapped tight around her knees