I didn’t stop when she relaxed, only backing down a little to let her catch her breath before ramping up my efforts again. She came faster the second time, her body going limp under my arm when she was done.
There were so many more things I wanted to do with her, but I couldn’t wait any longer. Everything about her, from the sounds she made to the way she moved, slayed me. Breathing wasn’t going to do the trick anymore.
Thankfully, my wallet was still in my pants. I plucked a condom out of it before I got rid of the rest of my clothing, rolling it on before sliding an arm around her midsection.
“Can you get up on your knees for me? I’ll hold you up. Don’t worry.”
“What happened to it being my turn?” she asked as she tucked her knees in underneath her and lifted herself up on quivering arms.
“My turn isn’t over yet,” I gritted out, lining myself up with that piece of heaven that lived between her legs. Tightening my grip around her waist, I pushed in slowly.
She was still fluttering from her last orgasm, and those small motions of her inner muscles nearly pushed me over the edge. Focus on her, Jacob. Just focus on her.
Using the arm I had around her, I brought her up until her back was to my front again. The new angle made both of us moan, and she clenched me harder. “You okay?”
“So much more than okay,” she whispered.
“I’m going to move now. If you get uncomfortable like this or if it hurts or something, just let me know, okay?”
“Okay.” She wound her arm around my neck while her free hand wandered down to her clit. As soon as I noticed where her fingers were, I fucking lost it.
With one arm holding her upper body against me and the other gripping her hips, I planted my feet and began thrusting. Fast and hard in but slower as I withdrew.
If I could’ve made it last forever, I would have. That telltale tingling started and I chased the release it promised with everything I had in me. The switch flipped in my mind and my hips moved in the exact way I needed them to.
When Laurie moaned and my gaze dropped to find her hand moving faster while she squeezed me, it was all over. I buried my head where her neck met her shoulder and pumped until there was nothing but bliss.
We collapsed on the bed together, kissing, stroking, and exploring until we fell asleep once the birds were already chirping outside.
Chapter 31
Laurie
When I woke up the next morning, there was a big, warm, heavy something draped over half my body. It took me a second to realize it was Jacob, and when I did, I smiled wider than I had in a very long time.
Waking up with him is definitely something I could get used to. I opened my eyes and blinked against the soft early morning sunlight streaming in through my windows.
It was still early, but I had no idea what time he had to be at work. We hadn’t gotten more than a few hours of sleep, but it had been so worth the exhaustion that was bound to set in later.
As I stretched, careful not to wake him up, there was a soreness in places I hadn’t even known I had in my body. I still didn’t stop smiling, though. This was definitely, by far, the best reason for being sore.
Despite the fact that I’d had more orgasms than I could count before we’d fallen asleep, I felt my body coming alive again at the memories of what had caused the ache in my limbs. But Jacob had to get to work and I couldn’t spend all day fantasizing either.
Sliding out from underneath him without jostling him too much wasn’t easy, but I eventually climbed out of bed without having disturbed him. I spotted his shirt lying on the floor after brushing my teeth and decided to surprise him by wearing it while bringing him coffee in bed.
After buttoning it up halfway, I ran a brush through my hair but left it down. I hit the button on the coffeemaker when I got to the kitchen, then switched on the radio while I went to get mugs out. At first, I didn’t realize I was doing it, but when I heard a soft chuckle from the doorway, I realized I’d been dancing in place while fixing the coffee.
Jacob had put his boxers back on, but his hair was deliciously messy and the rest of his body was bare. He grinned as he motioned to me. “Please don’t stop on my account. I was enjoying the show.”
“I love how messy and wild your hair looks this morning,” I said instead of acknowledging that he’d witnessed my impromptu dance.
It was something I used to do all the time. I always had music on at my apartment and dancing to it was one of my favorite things to do to pass time when I needed to think.
Jacob’s face split into an easy grin and he walked up to me, caging me in against the counter with his broad chest against mine and his hands flat on either side of me. “Yours is messier, but I love it too because I know what we did to make it look that way.”
I felt my cheeks heat. Blushing had to be my least favorite thing about my light coloring, but seeing the way he looked at me every time it happened suddenly made it seem like an endearing quality.
Lifting my chin instead of trying to hide it, I planted a chaste kiss on his lips. “You missed out on coffee in bed.”
“I’ll take coffee on the sofa with you instead,” he said, reaching past me to grab both mugs before stepping back and holding them up. “What have you got planned for today?”
He carried our mugs while I followed him to the living room. “I should probably make another attempt at unpacking. I’ve made a lot of strides these past few weeks, but just thinking about all those boxes I still need to get through makes me feel just as paralyzed as I was before.”
“Is it because so much of it used to belong to your sister?” he asked, sitting down before draping his arm along the backrest of the sofa and pointing to the spot next to him.
I shrugged. “Every small task somehow feels so much bigger than it is right now. It’s hard for me to start anything even if I know how good it will feel when this place finally starts feeling like a home.”
As I got settled at his side, he looked around the room. His gaze lingered on the photographs on the mantel and the empty spaces in every corner. “How about I stay here today and we get everything unpacked together?”
My spine stiffened. “Don’t you have to get to work?”
“Nah. I have so many vacation days that I’ll be able to retire on them in a couple of years from now. Obviously, I can’t do that, so I need to start using them.”
“I don’t know.” I sank my teeth into the inside of my cheek. “It’s really sweet of you to offer, but tackling the unpacking doesn’t bring out the best in me.”
He slid his fingers under my chin and held my eyes, letting me see the absolute sincerity in his. “If you’d rather do it alone, that’s fine. I’d like to help you if you’ll let me. We’ll have fun doing it together. I promise.”
“What about the kids?” I asked. “You said Jamie will take them to school, but we can’t expect her to pick them up as well.”
“She’ll be okay with it. Honestly, she’s like a cool big sister to Allie. They always end up spending hours together even after I get home anyway. She calls me to ask if she can pick Allie up all the time, even when I don’t need her to. They really love each other.”
My own gaze tracked around the room. It was so easy for me to envision what it was going to look like once it was done, and yet I just hadn’t been able to get it there.
Jacob had helped me with so many other obstacles already. It felt like too much to expect his help with this too, but I hadn’t expected it. He’d offered, and refusing would make me a fool.
“If you’re sure about taking the day off and about Jamie carting the girls around, I would love if you could help me.”
He grinned, leaning down to nuzzle my cheek. “I’m sure about all of that. Let’s finish our coffee and get started.”
“We should shower first.”
“Nope.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “We’ll do that later to reward ourselves. No more being paralyzed. No more waiting. We’re doing t
his.”
I sighed and arched a brow as I stared into his eyes. “I wasn’t talking about the kind of shower that counts as a reward. I just thought we could get cleaned up after our nocturnal activities.”
“Who knows? Our nocturnal activities might just carry on later. We’ll get cleaned up after we get all sweaty again.”
When I shot him a pointed look, he chuckled and raised his free hand. “Get sweaty while unpacking. Jeez. Get your mind out of the gutter, woman.”
“Like my mind is the one in the gutter.” I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t stop the smile tugging at my lips. “Although my mind has been in the gutter a lot more often recently. Can’t imagine why.”
He flashed me a smug smile, his chest puffing out. “I think I know the reason, but if you’ve forgotten it, I’m happy to refresh your memory any time. Just not right now. We’ve got coffee to drink and boxes to unpack.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re doggedly determined once you set your mind on something?”
He smacked the side of my ass before standing up. “Yep. I take pride in that quality. Once I’m focused, I’m getting it done. It didn’t seem to bother you much last night. Or the day before that.”
I stuck the tip of my tongue out at him. “I wasn’t complaining. I just didn’t think you’d be this eager to get started. Where are you going by the way?”
His features turned serious before he took another look around. “Do you still have any furniture that needs to be moved into place before the boxes can start being unpacked properly?”
“How did you know that?” I just about gaped at him. “Is it that obvious?”
“To me, it is. There’s way too much empty space in here and in every other room. You don’t strike me as the minimalist type, judging by what you’ve already unpacked. Which means there’s got to be more.”
“There is more,” I admitted, silently in awe of his powers of observation. He never seemed to miss a thing. “It’s all piled into the guest rooms.”
“I thought you said it was in the garage?”
My head dropped to one side as I surveyed the almost naked, sex god of a man standing in front of me. “Do you secretly carry a recorder on you every time we talk? There’s no way you notice and remember as much as you do without that.”
He shrugged, bending over to plant a sweet kiss on my lips. “When it comes to you, I remember everything. Now, point me in the direction of these guest rooms. Let’s get this show on the road.”
After taking another big gulp of his coffee, he set it down on the table while I gave him a two-fingered salute. “Yes, sir.”
A wicked gleam came into his eyes. “You know, I’ve never been into that kind of thing, but now I think it might just work for me. Let’s do what needs to be done, and then we can experiment.”
“What? You want to tie me up and blindfold me?” I joked, but the smile slowly dropped from my face when that wicked gleam just intensified. “Are you serious?”
He shrugged. “Why not? Bondage and blindfolds might be fun after all.”
“You’re joking, right?” I asked when he laughed and took off down the hall in the direction of the bedrooms.
“Come help me and you might find out later.” More laughter followed.
Setting my own coffee down, I stood up and hurried after him. Even though he’d only left the room seconds before me, he was already moving stuff around to make more space so he could get a good look at everything.
“What did you have in mind for all this?” he asked, seemingly having completely forgotten that he’d been talking about bondage just before.
See? Just a joke. I breathed a little easier and tried to follow his example of supreme focus on the thing I’d set my mind to. Which means no thinking about sex for now. Kinky or otherwise.
“I haven’t even really gotten that far,” I said, forcing my mind to quiet all other thoughts. “I just didn’t want to get rid of any of my stuff or any of Katherine’s. What I have in mind for the house is kind of like a mash-up of both our styles.”
He moved his forefinger and thumb over his chin, narrowing his eyes in thought. “Do you think you would be able to live like that? Her stuff mixed in with yours, on display every day?”
“I really want to. It’ll be difficult at first, but that’s no reason not to do it. I think it will mean a lot to Katie and, once I get used to it, to me too.”
Turning to put one hand on my shoulder, he bent his knees to look into my eyes. Concern darkened his and formed the tiniest little furrow between his brows. “There’s no shame in packing it away for Katie to sort through herself one day. She can decide what she wants to keep when the time comes.”
“I know.” I sighed and stuck my hands into my hair with elbows sticking out to the side. It wasn’t the sexiest of poses when one wasn’t intentionally doing it to strike a pose, but I’d warned him that this wasn’t going to be pretty.
Jacob waited patiently in front of me, never moving his gaze away from me but not making me feel like he was staring either. He was just watching. Making sure I was okay.
A long minute later, I released the breath I’d been holding and nodded. “I want Katie to feel her mom here with us. Let’s see what we can fit in a way that works with the house. Whatever is left, I’ll put in storage for her.”
“Sounds like a good plan.” He gave me a proud grin before turning to motion to a new-agey A-frame bookshelf. “I think that would look good in the corner next to the fireplace. Should we try it there?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it.” Jacob was surprisingly good at making suggestions and a huge help in actually doing the heavy lifting I’d been putting off.
We took a break for some toast and peanut butter, but he only gave us a few minutes before we got back to unpacking. With his help, for the first time, I could really see where things would fit into the home I was trying to build for Katie.
It didn’t take me long to realize that, like with everything else, even unpacking Katherine’s things was just a little bit better with Jacob at my side.
Chapter 32
Jacob
Laurie and I spent all of Friday morning and most of the afternoon unpacking. I drained the glass of water in my hand, wiping my mouth before I set the empty glass back down on the kitchen counter.
We’d finally gotten around to showering a couple of hours ago before finishing up some of the lighter work around the house. The difference between when we’d woken up and the way the house looked now was palpable.
It’d felt homey before, but the gaping open spaces had made it feel unfinished. Like they’d just moved in a week ago and hadn’t gotten around to the nonessentials yet. The walls had been mostly bare, the rooms had felt empty, and most of the doors in the hallway had been closed because she’d used them and the garage as storage space.
Laurie and Katie had caught a cab to my place the night before, and Laurie’s car had been parked outside when we arrived. Now that the garage was mostly clear, both of our cars were parked inside with only a few boxes lining the walls.
“You really weren’t kidding when you said you still had a lot of stuff to get through,” I said, shifting on my stool to face her where she was sauteing onions on the stove. “We managed to get it all though, right?”
“Right.” She tossed me a smile over her shoulder.
After our admittedly long and sexy shower, she’d changed into a pair of sweats and a fitted, bright pink tank. Her feet were clad in socks, and an apron with the words “Kiss the Cook” emblazoned on it hung from her neck.
Since I hadn’t had a change of clothes with me and we hadn’t wanted the girls to arrive to find me in the same clothing I’d worn when we’d left, I’d done something I promised myself I would never do. I ordered a few spare sets of comfortable clothing online and had them delivered.
Once I’d changed into a pair of jeans, socks of my own, and a T-shirt, I’d put the rest of the clothes back in the brown paper shopping bag. I was
planning on conveniently forgetting it so I’d have clean clothes next time I came over, and there would definitely be a next time if I had anything to say about it.
The whole scene in the kitchen was comfortably domestic, and although I’d known I wanted a relationship exactly like this, I hadn’t realized how much until right that minute.
“When did you say Jamie was dropping the girls off again?” Laurie asked after swallowing the last of her water.
“Probably about half an hour from now,” I said, getting up to refill our glasses and replenish the ice while she kept cooking. “They’re just picking up the little boy she has to watch tonight from a different school and then getting some ice cream before she brings them over.”
“That girl really is a saint.” Her full lips pulled to one side before she gave her head a shake. “Then again, so are you. I can’t wait to see Katie’s reaction when she walks in. It looks almost normal now. All that’s missing is dirty shoes next to the door and coats on the rack.”
“Once the dirty shoes are there, you’ll wish you never said that.” I planted a kiss on her cheek when I took her glass to her. “Are you sure it’s okay if Allie and I stay for dinner?”
“It’s not just okay. I’m going to have to insist that you stay to thank you for all your help today. I have no idea how you did it, but you somehow made it possible to get it done. Not just possible either, fun even.”
“I had fun too. Maybe we should quit our jobs and start an interior design firm. If we do a good job, we could even get our own reality show. Stranger things have happened.”
She rolled her eyes before lifting up a plastic chopping board to add the mushrooms she’d sliced earlier to the pan. “I had no idea you had aspirations to become a reality star. If you need a recommendation for a job well done, I’ll be happy to give you one, but I’m pretty happy with the career I already have.” Her nose scrunched up. “Or had anyway. The point is that I don’t think I’d do well with interior design. I mean, I needed you just to get through my own stuff. You even had to help me hang all my old artwork.”
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