Fuck, I was hard.
Slowly, she dragged my hand down her throat and onto her breast, then farther down to her heaven I loved to worship.
“Can you feel how much I want you, Grayson?” she said, her dulcet voice throaty and hoarse.
“Can you?” I pushed my hips against her so she could feel just how badly I wanted her. Ran my tongue over her neck and then nipped the fragile skin, smirking when she shuddered. I’d done well maintaining control when it came to her. Keeping her gorged with pleasure. Keeping myself sated with relief from her hands. It was a constant push and pull I’d relished in.
Waiting. Wanting. Giving. Taking.
“You’re supposed to be feasting on the meal I made you, woman. Not tempting me with a feast of your own.”
Her eyes deepened into a sensual blue behind her dark frames. “Who said I was teasing?”
Her hand slid over the outline of my dick, rubbing with enough pressure to elicit a growl. I flipped her onto her back, then slid a hand up her thigh, fingers pressing against her soaking panties. Pushing them aside, I slid one, then two, fingers in, priming her before I made good on her threat.
“I’ve been thinking about this all day.” Her fingers were at my waist, unbuttoning my pants.
“You have?” I muttered in between kissing her.
“Mmhmm.” Her warm hand slid over my dick, stroking it with the perfect amount of tension. Familiarity.
My head fell back from the electric shock of her touch. I was a sucker for her. Gone. Trying to hang on to my sanity as her grip tightened. Her control taking over. She rolled me over, then rose, resembling a fucking goddess on her knees. There was a pleading in her eyes that weakened what resolve I had.
Licking her lips, she lowered herself, face inches from my cock.
Fuck. She was going to suck me.
My eyes rolled upward when her supple lips slid over the crown of my dick, my fingers clenching the pillows at her touch. Her tongue flicked the middle, her other hand giving small strokes at the base. Her mouth was warm and soft, and I was losing the hold I had over my sanity. When she moaned, her voice vibrated over me. When I caught sight of her eyes, I found myself locked in place. Slid a hand into her hair, gripping it, pulling it tightly so I could see that pretty mouth of hers.
“Fuck, Prim,” I said as her tongue licked a trail up the base of my dick. “You’re gonna make me come.”
“Good.”
It was one word. A plea. Her pace quickened, my hips tightening, thighs clenching as I felt the need surfacing. But I wouldn’t let go. Not yet. Not until her body rippled with pleasure. I pulled out of her mouth. Urged her closer as my hands caressed her breasts.
“Damn, Prim, you drive me crazy.” My hand slid over her cheek, thumb brushing just beneath her eye. “You make it hard to keep focus.”
She licked her lips.
“You know, there was a reason I brought you up here tonight. I have a purpose.”
“And that is?”
I swallowed, my heart pulsing encouraging beats against my ribs. I kissed her softly, slowly, until the moment simmered between us. Until she was putty again, anchored and open in in the moment.
“I’ve fallen for you, Prim,” I whispered against her ear. Her neck. Her collarbone. “Madly, deeply in love.”
She shook beneath me as I laid her against the pillows, kissing up her neck, stopping just below her ear. “I’m in love with you, too, Grayson,” she said, voice trembling.
She pulled me closer, her lips sealing our admission. A solitary vow that branded our bones. That took flight inside my bloodstream, filling me with the echoes of her.
We grew manic, undressing each other. Tried to get even closer.
When we were down to our underwear, her body flush with mine, my heart banging hard with anticipation, I felt the whispering of need pressing along the base of my skull. Primal and instinctual.
“I want you,” she said. Such a simple expression, but it was the way her gaze caught mine that told me so much more. The desperation yearning to be fed swirling in those pretty eyes of hers. “I’ve thought a lot about it, Grayson. You said we could go at my pace, and we have, but I want more. I want to feel you inside me. I want… I want you to take what I’ve saved.”
I kissed her forehead. Her lips. Her cheeks. The tip of her adorable nose. “This is a big decision, Prim.” Though I wanted nothing more than to bury myself inside her, I had to know she was entirely sure before we took the next step. Prim was so much more than anyone I’d ever met. A delicate flower I wanted to protect.
“It is. And it’s what I want.” Her lips parted when I kissed her. Her body softened underneath me. “I’m on birth control,” she said, continuing with her coax. “And I bought a box of condoms. They’re in my purse.”
I pulled back, forearms cupped around her head as a heady smirk planted itself on my lips. “My, my, Ms. Amberly. Are you saying you showed up with impure intentions?”
Her lips met my smirk with her own—a softer, impish one. “Absolutely.”
Her arms folded around my neck, pulling me against her mouth. “I trust you,” she whispered against my lips, the word zapping me square in the heart.
“Are you sure?” The words trembled past my lips, heavy with desire. “We can wait. There’s no rush.”
It was only a partial lie. I could wait, for her, but there was a rush stampeding through my blood. A rush of longing that drove through every artery, every cell, with an ache I feared would never be remedied.
When her head dipped with concession, it was like that solitary confession woke something within me. We were open mouths and hands and tangled limbs. Heat and longing and desire that had gone repressed for far too long.
My fingers took their time caressing her skin. Mapping every slope. Every inch of desire raised on her milky flesh. I would go slow. Skimming the slope of her neck, the crevice of her collarbone, every inch shuddering beneath my touch, adding logs to the fire I stoked.
With a little fumbling, she pulled the box of condoms from her purse. I reached for it, but she stilled me. “I want to put it on,” she said, her hands shaking. Her face an ashen mix of desire and nerves.
Though bravery lived in her words, her body reacted otherwise.
“Prim…” I stilled her. Kissed her again, soft and slow, filled with hushed confessions. I wanted her good and ready so it would be as comfortable as I could make it for her. Wanted every moment, every movement, to be exactly what she desired.
I took my time, sliding my fingers inside her. One, then two. My thumb pressing dizzying circles over her clit. Mouth devouring her breasts. When I felt her grow close, her plains rippling around my fingers, I slid the open condom over my dick and moved on top of her. She writhed with desire beneath me. Pulled on my back, the thick look of need in her eyes.
When I pressed against her opening, her eyes popped open, grip tightening. I kissed her again, boxing her in, my tongue tasting her need. My thumb brushed over her raised nipples. Keeping the fire burning.
“Please,” she moaned, her hips moving beneath me. Encouraging me.
With a little pressure, I pushed forward, feeling her body tighten like a bowstring the moment she accepted the tip of me. Fuck. She was warm. As rigid as I was as emotions clogged my throat. Her eyes glistening with desire and trust. My heart beating sloppily against my chest.
I strained against the crushing need filling my veins, demanding that I fully bury myself in her, but my love for her and for making this moment perfect overpowered any selfish desire I had.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I kissed along her collarbone, her breasts, her lips, waiting for her to settle beneath me again.
She nodded, the air slipping from her lungs in labored gasps. A delicate prism of blue glinting in her eyes.
I pressed more the moment she relaxed, feeling the length of me slide just a fraction deeper. She tensed again. “I don’t want to hurt you,” I confessed as my arms began to tremble, vei
ns surfacing from the strain. “Am I?”
“No.” Her soft gaze moved over my face. “You’re perfect. This is… it’s perfect.”
My hand slid between us, thumb swirling over the heartbeat of her sex. I wanted her on the cusp before I completely filled her, a clashing of pleasure and pain that would surely drive her over the edge.
She tightened around my length as I rubbed and licked her nipples. Kissed her deeply, hanging on by a thread. When I felt her thighs begin to shudder, I gave one final push, all the way in, my head burying itself in her neck as she wrapped fully around me with the rippling waves of an orgasm.
Slowly, I ground into her, pulling in and out as she rode the ends of the wave I’d created, only to be hauled in by a new, more enticing riptide. Being inside her was the best kind of torture. A haven and a madhouse mixed as one.
My name left her lips in an exhale that fed my starved lungs. That carved itself into my heart with the need to return that very same feeling.
Her fingers dug into my back as I increased the pace, and I felt my resolve slipping. I wanted to hang on. To make it last. But there was no control left. The pleasured growl that ripped past my lips was loaded with everything I felt for her.
She held onto me as our hearts trembled together. Breath mismatched. Skin soaked in love and desire.
When I pulled away, tears dotted the corners of her eyes.
Panic flooded my chest. “Did I hurt you?”
“No,” she said with a swift shake of her head. “It’s quite the opposite.”
I brushed the tear away that slid down her cheek.
“I’ve never felt so close to someone, Grayson. So in love. And it’s overwhelming. Like I just leveled up.”
A rippling wave of laughter shot out of my chest. “Leveled up? Did you just compare this experience with video game lingo?” There she was, this beautiful, perfect creature who never ceased to amaze and surprise me.
The laughter that coursed through her mouth was light and airy. “I think I did, didn’t I?” she continued as she tucked her head against my chest to hide the growing flush rising to her cheeks. “In all my daydreams, I never once imagined it right.”
I picked up a lock of her hair, feeling its silken texture between the tips of my finger. “And what is it you imagined that was so different?”
She sighed with contentment. “The dizzying effect of having your heart race against mine. The way your skin felt… tasted. The stretch of my inner thighs as they parted and were pressed wide to allow you to get as close as you could. The overwhelming sensation of being filled and how it was part pleasure, part pain. How the need was so great I felt like I would shatter if you didn’t move, yet still shattered more when you did.”
“You paint a vivid picture. Must be the writer in you,” I said with a chuckle, adding, “Sorry if there was pain.”
The expression on her face made my heart swell. “I’m not.”
My grin took flight. “I love you.”
She turned her head up, her smile touching all the way up to her eyes. “I love you too.”
The Forgotten Notes
My head rested against his chest as I listened to the hearty cadence of his heart. We were in his bed, the door locked, our bodies sore and recovering from the second, third, and fourth round of lovemaking.
I’d been thoroughly surprised when I realized it hadn’t hurt as badly as everyone said it would. Whether it was from the practice we’d had over the course of the month, or from his tender affection to making it as perfect as it was, I didn’t know. I didn’t care.
All that mattered was this, right there, in that moment when his arms were wrapped around me and the outside world was far from touching us.
When he rolled, I traced the letters scribed across the base of his neck. “Life is short, break the rules.”
A gravelly, throaty noise sounded from his lips. “Adolescent stupidity,” he said as my lips pressed against the letters. “I was going through this rebel phase against my dad. Back when I made headlines for all the wrong reasons.”
“My very own bad boy.”
He rolled toward me, wearing a smile I felt all the way to my core. “Redeemed by his very own angel.” Reaching, he traced his hand over my cheek, letting it linger as love took on shapes in his eyes. “My father asked me to come with him to our old family vacation home next weekend to celebrate the start of the season.”
I nuzzled my nose against his. “He did? Are you’re going to go with him?”
“I’ve been thinking about it. Thinking about letting the past go and trying to move forward. It won’t be easy, but I’m tired of being angry. Tired of the postdating away at my future… with him anyway.”
There was a dash of hope in his eyes when he talked about reconciling with his father. “I’ll miss you, but I think you should go.”
“I want you to come with me.” His sated smirk twisted at the corners. “You know, because you’re so good at keeping him on his toes. I’d be adrift without you.”
“Adrift, huh?” I quirked my brow, trying hard not to grin like an idiot.
“Maybe.” A slow, discerning smile sloped across his lips. “Yeah. I think I am.” He licked them, then ran a finger under my chin. “I’ve thought a lot about what you said. Maybe he really is trying this time. And maybe I really can have a relationship with him.”
My lips smoothed over his. “I think that’s wonderful, Grayson.”
“And maybe,” he added, the love I felt for him centered in my chest, “maybe soon you can take me to meet your parents.”
I let out a bright, bubbly giggle.
“What? You think I can’t handle it?”
“It’s not them.” My laughter squeezed through my fingers covering my mouth. “It’s my sisters. They’ll have you pinned like a bug under a microscope.”
“Well, that’s why I have you. My little buffer.” He paused. “So, will you come?”
I rolled on top of him. Felt his desire already rising against my stomach again. “That depends on you, doesn’t it?”
His gaze shifted, darkening, eyes as black as sin. I was a twisted heap of nerves and skin waiting for him to put me back together. Desire was six-letter word I didn’t understand before him. Before his lips and his skin and the roughness of his touch.
With one hard thrust, he was inside me, pulsing hard with pleasure.
“Grayson,” I called out, fingers digging into his back.
With a hand tucked underneath me, he plunged deeper, pressing up into my spine so hard I could split with desire. I felt every inch of him fill me as I begged for more. As his movements grew rapid and demanding.
I held onto him. Onto us as he thrust all his love into me. Knowing I’d never get enough.
A permanent smile was sewn to my lips as the subway carried me to work. Not even the bodies crammed around me could sway my mood.
I was in love.
So was he.
There weren’t enough words to describe how I felt. The happiness seemed overabundant. I leaned my head against the pole as we skittered along on the track, in a daydream. One filled with full lips curved with a smile and whispered words against my skin. When I realized we were close to the woman at the storage facility, I perked up, only to feel my smile slipping.
She wasn’t there. The facility was locked up with yellow caution tape wrapped around it.
My gaze dropped. What had happened to her? Had they discovered she was secretly living there? Had she died? Had she moved on?
My heart shrank as a certain dread bubbled inside my blood. A foreboding that sat like hot acid in my gut.
I tried to push away the negative thoughts taking shots at my happiness. It wasn’t an omen. It wasn’t a sign. So then why did I feel like the rug was about to be ripped out from under me? The subway slid to a stop. A handful of bodies made their way into the station, leaving a seat free. I took it, pulling my phone out. There was a text from Grayson on the screen.
Miss y
ou already.
My lips curved in response as I clutched the phone against my chest. It almost didn’t feel real. This airy warmth that circulated around my chest at the thought of him. These thoughts floating in pink clouds of happiness.
When my stop came, I tucked my phone into my purse and beelined for the office. I knew I’d be getting a new assignment from Quinn, and I already had a few ideas I wanted to pitch to her for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday blog special.
Quinn was sitting at my desk, wearing a dangerous smile, when I arrived at work. Lax in my seat with one high-heeled leg crossed over the other.
It isn’t a sign. It isn’t a sign, I chanted, although it didn’t aide the tension growing in my chest any.
“Good morning, Prim.” She stood so I could sit. Resembling a shiny, silver bullet in her gray pencil skirt and metallic blouse, aimed straight at me. “Did you have a good weekend?”
I set my purse down. “Yes,” I said, my voice leery.
Her grin was lethal. “That’s good.” She paused, then pointed to the bagel on my desk. “I took the liberty of having a bagel brought up for you from the shop downstairs. You’re a plain-Jane kind of bagel person, correct?”
“I… uh… yes.”
“Jesus, Quinn. You’re scaring her with the good-witch vibe of yours,” Poppy said, her back to us as her fingers moved across the keyboard.
“Scared? Of me?” A bawdy burst of laughter shot past her lips, unfitting in the small enclosed space. “Don’t be silly. I just wanted to have a chat with my number-one blogger.”
Poppy made a chortling noise.
“Jealousy got your tongue?” she fired at Poppy. “You could easily be number one if you’d put your focus in your writing rather than running around breaking men’s hearts.”
“And bank accounts,” Poppy added with a smirk.
Quinn rolled her eyes. “I wanted to talk to you about an upcoming article,” she said to me.
“Alan approved me covering his next charity event. I was thinking maybe for the upcoming Fourth—”
“Not about that one,” she spoke over me. Leaning forward, she clicked my mouse. “About this one.”
Virginal Headlines: Love Between The Headlines Page 22