“This is all you wanted?” she asked softly.
I nodded. “To see you in this bed.”
She watched me then as I leaned closer and slid my hand down from her shoulder, gliding over her breasts, then lower to her stomach. I stroked her everywhere, caressing and admiring her skin.
“You’re lovely,” I said, my voice rough to my own ears. “Truly lovely.”
She squirmed beneath my attentions, getting aroused. I stroked her thighs but didn’t touch between them yet.
“I think you’re forgetting someplace,” she breathed as I slid my hands up to her knees.
I grinned a little. “I’m saving the best for last.”
When I bent down and took one of her nipples in my mouth, she sighed. It pebbled as I began to lick and suckle her, molding her breast with my hand.
I moved my mouth lower. My cock had gotten so hard it was painful. She wasn’t shy anymore and seemed eager, but I took my time, stroking along her inner folds and then circling her clit before licking it. She was wet and musky on my tongue.
A breathy sound escaped her throat, something between a whimper and a moan that made my balls ache it was so sexy. I didn’t want to come yet, but I didn’t want to stop tasting her either.
Her hands came off the bed frame and grabbed my head, pulling my hair as she continued to moan and squirm against my mouth. I slid my tongue inside her, then replaced it with my fingers.
When I went back to licking her clit, she moaned louder. Her legs shook, and I kept at it until she cried out, bucking against me, doing just what I’d told her to earlier, coming and coming until my face was damp from her.
After she slowed down, I lifted up. I was panting, and all I could think about was fucking her. Making her mine. My heart hammered in my chest. I was trying to calm the hell down because I knew I didn’t have any kind of protection.
“You don’t have any condoms, do you?”
She nodded, still catching her breath. “There’s some in the nightstand.” She motioned to the side.
Relief flooded through me. I rummaged through her drawer and found a strip of them shoved in the back. I tore one off.
She stroked my thigh, watching as I rolled it on.
My excitement had turned into a kind of fever, heating my blood, driving me like the storm outside. When I was on top of her, I told myself to go slow, that she probably hadn’t had sex in a while, but my body didn’t want to listen. I managed a few short strokes, but then my control slipped and I took her in one hard thrust.
She gasped in my arms, grabbing my shoulders. I thrust again, sinking deep.
“Claire,” I breathed, fighting for control. “God, I can’t stop.” She was hot and tight as a fist. A fierce instinct took hold of me, one I’d never experienced, and I wanted to possess her. I needed it.
Her nails scored my back as I began to move. “Yes,” I groaned, my voice ragged. “Scratch me up, sweetheart.”
Her legs wrapped around my thighs and then my waist as I thrust into her.
She went wild beneath me, moaning and crying out, “Yes,” urging me on. When she bit into my shoulder, I lost it. My vision swam, my entire body consumed by the climax. Surreal in its intensity. Hot sparks burst in front of my eyes, blinding me completely as I emptied into her.
Afterward, I kissed her throat, inhaling her scent. “Claire,” I whispered in her ear. “My sweet Claire.” I smiled with satisfaction. Everything in my gut told me this was right.
Reaching down, I quickly took care of the condom. When I rolled back to her, I kissed her lips and then her cheek, stroking her hair. To my surprise, her face was damp.
I sat up on my forearm to look down at her. It had gotten dark, and I could just make out her features. “Are you okay?” I asked.
She sniffed, gazing up at me, and to my horror, I realized she was crying.
Chapter Twenty-Two
~ Claire ~
“Did I hurt you?” Philip’s face hovered over me in alarm.
I rested my hand on his shoulder. “No, I’m fine.” I smiled, even though I was crying.
“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” He stroked my hair and then my cheek. “Are you sure I didn’t hurt you?”
“Not at all. That was wonderful.” And it was. The hottest sex of my life. Which was mostly why I was crying.
He remained still, studying me in the dark. Then he sat up, glancing around the room. “Where’s my phone? I want to see your face and make sure you’re telling me the truth.”
I laughed, though it sounded more like a croak. “What are you going to do? Shine your phone’s flashlight in my face?”
His voice was tender. “Only if I have to.”
I laughed some more and then sighed. He was something else. But I could tell he was concerned, and I had to admit, it was probably freaky for him that I was crying.
“There are some flameless candles,” I told him. “One on my nightstand and a few more on a shelf over there. You can light them with a switch at the bottom.”
“Flameless?”
“I can’t burn real candles around my birds.”
“Ah, I see.” He got up and padded across the room. Unfortunately, it was too dark to make out his naked body again, though I’d seen plenty earlier. And let me just say, while he looked spectacular in clothes, he looked even better without them.
Philip lit all the candles, saving the one on my nightstand for last. The storm continued outside, but the room now had a cozy glow.
The mattress dipped as he climbed into bed again. I tossed some extra pillows aside and pulled the covers up, and he slid under them next to me.
“Are you really okay?” he asked quietly, propping himself up on one elbow. His eyes roamed my face. “Tell me why you’re crying.”
“It’s just….” I swallowed. How did I explain this? I took a shaky breath, trying to quell my emotions. “I just never thought I’d feel like this again.”
“Like what?”
Tears stung my eyes. “Like this. Everything. Sexy and turned on. Wanting to be with you.”
The play of shadows on his face made him look even more handsome.
Tears ran into my hair as I gazed at him. I was crying because I was glad, which seemed crazy.
“Am I the first man you’ve been with since your divorce?”
“No.” And then I told him about my one-night stand and how awful it was. “I felt nothing when it happened. Nothing.” I started to cry again. “It’s like I was dead inside.”
“Sweetheart,” he murmured. He kissed my cheeks, my forehead, then stroked my hair. “What were you thinking? You should have waited for me.”
I laughed though it sounded more like a sob. “I didn’t know you were coming!”
“Damn.” He shook his head. “I should have gotten here sooner.” And I could tell he was serious, his voice thoughtful, like he blamed himself for being unable to fix the past.
“I didn’t want Ethan to be the last guy I was with. I was trying to move on, you know?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I would have done the same thing.”
“If only I’d had a crystal ball. I would have waited for you.”
He stroked my hair, his eyes soft. “I’m here now. That’s what matters.”
I let out another shaky breath, nodding.
And then I rolled toward him, burying my face in his neck, inhaling his delicious scent while his hand stroked down my back. I let myself relax. The weather still raged outside, but I felt safe and warm. My birds had calmed down too.
We lay together, just listening to the storm, to the rain showering the roof and windows. Somewhere in there I dozed for a while.
When I woke up, we were in the same position. Philip’s eyes were closed, and I studied him in the candlelight, his black hair and thick brows. Even asleep he had an air of command.
I kissed his jaw and then ran my tongue along the edge of his ear, nibbling the lobe. His breath hitched, and I knew he was awake.
He
pulled back to look at me. “My pirate princess is feeling better?”
I nodded, winding my arms around his neck. “Much better.”
“Good.” He reached around to caress my ass.
I kissed him and then bit his lower lip, sucked his tongue until he grunted softly.
When I drew back, his gaze was on my face but then slid lower to my chest. One hand came up, caressing my right breast, lightly squeezing.
“They’re perfect,” he murmured, still looking down at them. “You have a perfect rack.”
My brows went up. “Did you really just refer to my breasts as a rack?”
“A perfect rack.” He grinned. “Don’t forget the word ‘perfect’ was in there.”
To be honest, my breasts were pretty nice. Definitely my favorite body part. There were plenty of other parts I could complain about—my height, for example—but I got lucky in the boob department.
“Are you going to hang your umbrella on them?” I questioned. “Or your coat and hat?”
“No.” He chuckled, then gave me a wicked look. “But I can think of plenty of other things I’d like to do with them.”
“You’re being dirty again, aren’t you?” Despite feeling mildly shocked earlier, the things he said and the way he’d licked his fingers after touching me were the hottest thing ever.
“That depends. Did you like it?”
“Of course not.”
He snorted softly. “Liar.”
I tried not to smile.
“Should I tell you what I’d like to do with these perfect breasts of yours?” His eyes were on mine. They looked dark in the candlelight, his pupils huge. “Because I have a few ideas.”
“Like what?” Excitement sparked through me.
He licked his lips as he continued to caress me. “Well, I’d start slow… because I enjoy taking my time with you.” His thumb circled my right areola. “I already know you like your nipples played with.”
I gripped his shoulder.
“Don’t you?”
“Yes.”
He lightly pinched me between his thumb and forefinger, sending sparks through my center and down my spine.
“And I’ll bet you liked it when I used my mouth on them too, licking these pretty pink buds.” He leaned down to put his mouth on one of them again. His tongue swirled and then gently suckled.
My eyes fell shut as more sparks flew.
“Do you like that?” he asked softly.
I nodded, my stomach tight.
“Tell me.”
“I like… it.” His body felt sexy against mine. Solid and muscular. His cock, large and hard, pressed against my thigh.
“Good,” he said huskily. “I like it too.”
His gaze went down to my breasts again. He slid his fingers between them, back and forth.
My breath caught at what he was showing me.
“There’s something else I’d like to do,” he whispered, his eyes on mine, dark and absorbent. “But only if you’ll let me.”
I already knew I’d let him. I’d let him do anything he wanted, because I wanted it too. I wanted to do it all with Philip. Even the dirty things.
Especially the dirty things.
In that moment, something gave way, my passion overwhelming. After not feeling anything for years, it was like a dam had burst inside me. I couldn’t stand it any longer, and I grabbed him, kissing him fiercely.
Philip groaned, his arms crushing me against him. Our mouths were a tangle of tongues and teeth, reckless and wanting more. I couldn’t get close enough.
He broke the kiss and rolled onto his back, grabbing a condom from the nightstand. His hands shook as he yanked it from the wrapper and rolled it over himself.
“Climb onto me,” he panted.
I straddled him eagerly, a thigh on each side while he grabbed my hips.
The storm raged outside, except now it raged inside me too.
“Oh, God, now,” I begged, and before I knew it, I was impaled. I gasped as my eyes fell shut. The pleasure was exquisite, flooding all through me. I savored it. Sweet as molasses. I could hear Philip breathing hard, feel him trembling, but he didn’t move. He waited, letting me take the lead.
Finally, I began—slow at first, leaning over him to get the angle I needed. And then I let myself go. I took him in a completely selfish way, in a way I didn’t think I ever had in my life.
His hands were on my ass, then my breasts, and then it was his mouth. Teasing and suckling me, urging me on. I saw stars when I came. Brilliant stars. Philip was nearly there with me, groaning with every stroke. So close. His cock swelled, and then I heard him growl as he grabbed my hips, thrusting deep.
“Goddamn, Claire,” he breathed as we collapsed onto the bed with me still on top of him. I could feel his heart hammering in his chest. “Are you trying to kill me?”
“No.” I laughed and lifted my head. “Why do you say that?”
He brushed the hair off my face. “That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“It was?” I doubted it. I was sure he’d seen all kinds of sexy stuff. “I can’t believe that’s true.”
“Trust me.” He smiled. “That was hot.”
“Really?” I was pleased, but I wasn’t sure if he was just saying that.
“My sweet girl next door,” he murmured, grinning at me. “Watching you get wild was erotic as hell.”
My brows went up at his description. I’d never thought about it, but I guess I sort of was the girl-next-door type. “I guess when you put it that way….”
He chuckled and closed his eyes, still catching his breath. “Now you understand.”
I laid my head back down on his chest and smiled. His fingers grazed lazily down my spine. I felt happier than I had in a long time, practically bursting with it, but there was this little bit of fear too. I was afraid to trust my happiness.
“I guess all of that was bottled up inside of me.” My voice quivered. “Who knew?”
“Hey.” Philip’s fingers slowed their lazy pattern. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“Let me see your face.”
I lifted my head to look at him.
His eyes searched mine, assessing. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
I nodded, though my throat was tight. “I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time.”
“Are you going to cry?”
I nodded again and tried to smile as emotion welled up in me. “I think I am. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” His voice was tender as he stroked my back. “You’ve been through a lot.”
Tears ran down my face. I couldn’t seem to stop them. It was like I was finding myself again after a long and terrible journey. I was so glad to be here with him in this moment. “I’m glad it’s you,” I whispered.
His gaze was full of understanding. “Me too.”
And then I cried. Full-on tears. The storm inside me still raging, not finished yet. Philip held me the whole time, caressing me, telling me I was okay. I cried like I hadn’t in years. I cried for everything. All the struggles I’d had, but mostly I cried because the past was behind me and the future ahead.
Eventually I calmed down and sat up next to him. I leaned over his chest to grab some tissue from the box on my nightstand and blew my nose. “You must think I’m a total basket case.”
“Not at all.”
“Really?” I croaked with laughter. “Do women usually cry after they have sex with you?”
His mouth twitched. “No, I can’t say they ever do.”
“Oh my God, I’m sorry to put you through this.”
“Don’t say that.” His eyes met mine. “You’re worth it, Claire.”
“Thanks.” I sniffed and smiled at him. I could tell he meant it. “You’re so nice. That’s not at all what I read about you online.”
His brows furrowed. “What did you read online?”
I thought back to my Google session where I tried to learn m
ore about Philip. “I read that you’re a hardass. That most people are intimidated by you.”
He shook his head and frowned. “That’s because most people don’t like to hear the truth.”
“You tell them the truth?”
“I do.” He sighed. “Though it’s not always easy.”
I thought about my own reaction to the advice he’d given me.
“Would you like anything?” I asked, gathering my used tissues to throw away. “I’m going to get a glass of water.”
He sat up. “I can get it for you.”
“No, I have to go to the bathroom anyway.”
I got out of bed and, after using the bathroom, went into the kitchen to get us both some water from the fridge. It was still cold even though the power was out. When I came back into the main room, Philip’s eyes were on me as I walked toward him.
“Thanks,” he said, taking the glass from me.
I climbed in bed beside him. Amazingly, it was still raining outside. “It sounds like this storm is going all night.” I glanced at my birds’ cage. “At least the thunder stopped.”
“I take it they’re asleep now?”
I nodded. “Thank goodness.”
He put his water glass on my nightstand and lay down in bed again, putting his arms out to me. “Come here, lie next to me.”
I scooted down until we faced each other, both of us under the covers. His body was warm and solid against mine as I stroked his jaw.
We gazed at each other for a long while.
The candlelight cast a cozy glow while rain tapped steadily on the roof. It was like we were lost in our own world.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked, curious. He seemed deep in thought.
“You.” His voice rumbled between us. “I was thinking how I’d like to take you away someplace warm and sunny.”
“Steal me away like a pirate?”
“If I have to. Is there any place you’d like to go? The Caribbean maybe?”
I sighed with pleasure at the idea. “I’ve never been there.”
“I’m sure there are lots of sailboats. We could rent one.”
I closed my eyes and imagined it. The turquoise water. The endless blue skies. It would be wonderful.
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