Slow Burn (Rabun County Book 1)

by Lisa Clark O'Neill

  “Cold?”

  She shook her head. “God, no.”

  “Good.” He began to unbutton her sweater. “I’m not happy that you hurt your arm,” he said “but I do appreciate the easy-access of the attire you’ve chosen on accord of it. Mammary glands,” he continued “aren’t nearly as aesthetically pleasing on any other mammal. My God. No wonder old Keith was standing there with his mouth open.”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “I do.”

  The sweater slipped down her shoulders, effectively trapping her arms, and Sutton ran his hands up her sides, dancing fingertips along the bottom curves of her breasts before cupping them in his palms.

  He glanced up. “You haven’t been wearing a bra.”

  “The arm,” she explained, shuddering as he began to brush a thumb across one of her nipples. “It’s too hard to reach behind my back.”

  “I don’t mean to sound insensitive.” He switched to the other breast. “But this injury of yours seems to be working out to my benefit.”

  Adeline gasped as his mouth replaced his thumb, the wet heat of it causing pleasure to ripple out in waves. Riding one, she leaned forward, shaking her good arm out of the sleeve so that she could wrap her hand around the back of his head. She pulled him closer, the suction igniting a primal instinct that caused her hips to undulate with raw need. Flinging off her glasses, she then tightened her fingers in his hair, pulling his head back so that she could kiss him. Sutton responded with a guttural growl, his own hips pressing up and back in a forceful rhythm.

  Mindless with need, Adeline clawed at the neck of his flannel in an attempt to bare his skin, pulling so hard that one of the buttons popped off and rolled away.

  “Wait –”

  “No.”

  “Adeline.” He watched another button succumb, and tried to take over. Seeing her opportunity, Adeline leaned forward, pressing her breasts against his hard chest. When she began to rub them back and forth, dragging her nipples through the hair there, he dropped his head back against the wall and banged it once.

  “Christ.” Sutton’s boots hit the floor with a solid thud, and Adeline found herself hoisted up as he stood, her legs wrapping around his waist. “We’re not doing this on the couch. Not this time.” He headed back into the hall.

  “Whatever you want.”

  “That’s a pretty long list.”

  “Speaking of long.” She glanced down.

  “I won’t drop you.”

  “I wasn’t talking about your height.”

  “Dammit.” Sutton’s laugh sounded half-strangled. “Don’t make me fall on the stairs.”

  Because she didn’t need any more injuries, Adeline managed to zip it until they were on the second floor and through the apartment door. Sutton kicked it shut with the heel of his boot, and then turned, pinning her against it while he plundered her mouth.

  “Shit,” he said when he came up for air. “Your shoulder.”

  “It’s fine,” Adeline breathed, not caring if it were true. “All of my blood has pooled in other pertinent parts anyway, so my extremities are basically numb.”

  “We seem to be suffering from the same affliction.”

  “Whatever shall we do.”

  He carried her toward the bedroom. “I have a few ideas.”

  Adeline found herself on her back on the bed, with Sutton standing beside it. He reached over, sliding his fingers beneath the cuff of her sleeve so that he could pull the sweater from her arm. He was so gentle that she felt tenderness begin to creep in around the lust.

  “I really am fine,” she told him.

  Lifting one of her feet, he began to unzip her boot. “You’re a whole lot better than that.”

  The next few moments passed in a blur of zippers and snaps and disappearing clothing. Adeline braced for his weight coming down on top of her, but he wrapped his hands around her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the bed. Holding her gaze, he lowered onto first one knee and then the other.

  And then he set his mouth to her core.

  Adeline gasped, her toes curling as she brought her knees higher to allow him better access. She didn’t care if it was shameless. At the moment, she had none. She’d discovered over the past couple of days that the hair on his face grew remarkably fast, and the stubble from his morning shave was really working for her.

  “Have you ever considered growing a… oh my GOD… full beard?”

  He chuckled, sounding just a little evil.

  Adeline wondered if she should keep talking – like conversation over dinner – but the things he was doing with his tongue seemed to have short-circuited her brain. Again. But at least this time she was enjoying the experience. And when he added a finger, and then two, alternately curving them and spreading them as he moved them in and out, she lost the ability to think at all.

  She could feel the orgasm gathering, drawing closer and tighter, until he deployed a subtle use of teeth and made everything burst.

  Her arms fell to her sides. She wasn’t sure if her legs were still attached to her body.

  “Unf,” she said when he positioned his hands beneath her armpits and gently moved her back.

  “Did I hurt you?”

  “No.” She managed to open one eye. “But even if you had, it would have been worth it. When I redesign your business cards, I’m going to add cunnilinguistics expert to your extensive credentials because it sounds scientific enough to confuse everyone.”

  She felt more than saw his smile as he kissed his way up her stomach. “I once called myself a felinologist when I was younger and more obnoxious.”

  “Felinologist? An expert in… oh,” she said as her brain came back online. Felines. “I get it.”

  “You’re certainly about to.”

  Delighted by him, Adeline laughed, and then drew in a sharp breath when she felt him at her entrance. Reaching up, she slid her fingers through the hair that fell across his forehead, and he dropped down onto his forearms to bring his face above hers. Thankfully, her close-up vision wasn’t too bad, and there was just enough daylight left to watch his clear grey eyes darken with desire.

  He captured her right hand in his left, interlaced their fingers.

  “I’ve wanted to do this since the first day I met you.”

  “When I cunningly flashed my titties?”

  “Damn you.” But he laughed. “I’m trying to be serious.”

  “Serious. Right.” She rolled in her lips and pressed them together. But her amusement fled, replaced by rekindled hunger when he stretched that arm over her head, trailed his tongue down the sensitive underside until he arrived at her lifted and exposed breast.

  “They’re very nice titties,” he told her, before taking it in his mouth.

  Adeline closed her eyes, focused purely on sensation. The wet heat. The steady tug that seemed to shoot sensation straight to her womb. Her breath came in quickening bursts and she began to squirm, trying to draw him closer to her. Into her. She bucked, but his superior weight held her down.

  “I want to do things to you, too.”

  “Later,” he promised.

  “Sutton –”

  “Later. I told you I wanted to take my time.”

  And he did, using tongue and teeth and hands all over her body. Adeline felt like there wasn’t a single inch of her that he didn’t explore, didn’t kiss or lick or fondle. She’d never been so thoroughly aroused – or so thoroughly frustrated – in her life.

  “Please,” she begged, writing beneath him.

  “In a minute.”

  Pushed to her breaking point, Adeline grabbed him by the ear. “If you don’t do me now, I swear I’m going to… oh my God.” Everything went taut as he pushed inside her. Her back arched off the bed, and when the initial shock finally settled, she widened her legs, pulling her knees back until the soles of her feet faced the ceiling. He sank deeper, angling his hips to create maximum stimulation.

  “You’re wonderfully bendy,” he brea
thed into her ear.

  “You’re wonderfully straight.” When he began to move, Adeline gasped, thinking she might die. “And hard.”

  “Am I hurting –”

  “Do not ask me that – holy shit that feels good – again.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  He didn’t, possibly because past that point, words became both unnecessary and nearly impossible to articulate. Adeline had never felt so full, not only in a literal sense, but also because everything – heart, mind, body – seemed to be working toward a common goal. The jolts of sensation came closer together, coalescing into a final, electric shock that ignited deep in her core.

  She floated, a bit of ash on the air after a volcanic eruption, and was only vaguely aware when Sutton reached his own climax.

  He collapsed to the side, rolling so that he didn’t pin her arm.

  Moments passed. Minutes. Hours. Adeline wasn’t sure whether they were still in the same epoch when she finally opened her eyes.

  “You’ve blinded me,” she said.

  He showed her the cord in his hand. “I closed the blinds. The street light came on and was shining right in my face.”

  She wasn’t surprised that she hadn’t heard him, given that her good ear had been buried in the pillow, and her mind was filled with a rousing rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus.

  Lifting her head, she gaged the distance between the window and the bed. “You can reach that from here?”

  “Long arms.”

  “Mmm.” Rolling to her side, she snuggled against him. “I’ll refrain from making another innuendo now that you’ve satisfied my needs.”

  He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Glad I could be useful.”

  They fell into another companionable silence while Adeline ran her fingers through the hair on his chest. But after several minutes, she couldn’t hold it in any longer. “You didn’t say anything.”

  “About?”

  “My scar.”

  He waited a beat. “Was I supposed to?”

  “No. It’s just that… well, you haven’t seen the whole thing until now.”

  “I still haven’t seen it. I was on top, if you’ll remember.”

  “That’s what I mean. People usually ask if they can see it. Men.” She swallowed her embarrassment. “Other men whom I’ve been with. They always wanted to look.”

  Sutton was quiet for several moments, and then he reached over and switched on the bedside lamp. “Look at me.”

  She slid her eyes to the side.

  “Adeline. Look me full in the face.”

  Sighing, she finally did.

  “I was making love to you. Not your scar. I don’t care about your scar, except for the fact that it clearly hurts you. Both the getting and the having of it.”

  “Keith was appalled.”

  “What?”

  “That’s partly why I was so upset. I mean obviously, I was startled to see some strange man there at the door to my bedroom. But my back was turned. My bare back. He said something like whoa and that’s how I knew he was there.”

  “He probably said whoa because he wasn’t expecting you to be half-naked.”

  “He was grossed out.”

  “By a gorgeous woman?”

  “Oh please.”

  She gasped when Sutton rolled on top of her. “Gorgeous,” he repeated, and then rolled again, bringing her on top of him. Adeline felt the pressure of his growing erection against her lower belly. She froze, upset that her old anxiety had reared its ugly head at such an inopportune moment. But she guessed it was to be expected. Sex was intimacy, and intimacy made you vulnerable. Vulnerability sucked.

  “Adeline,” Sutton murmured in her good ear. “I want you to ride me.”

  She shivered, brain warring with body. She could feel herself opening, yearning, even as part of her wanted to run away.

  But she’d been running too much. Away from her past, her problems, herself. Drawing in a breath for courage, she pushed up to her knees. Sutton ran his hands up her thighs, over her hips, teasing shivers from her as he went. But when he took hold of her hips, started to bring her down, she stilled his hands. “Wait.”

  He glanced up. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

  “No. I mean yes, but in a good way.” Her breath came out shaky. “It’s exciting.”

  His eyes darkened. “Take your time.”

  Holding his gaze, Adeline lifted one of her legs and swung it around to the opposite side, turning so that she faced the other way as she came back astride. Her back to him.

  His hands resettled on her hips. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  After a brief hesitation, he gave her a gentle squeeze before letting go. “You’re in charge.”

  It was a subtle thing, the difference between permission and consent. One suggested that he was in a position of authority. The other, that they were equals. Giving and taking in similar measure.

  Wrapping her hand around his girth, she positioned herself so that she could take him inside her this time, on her schedule, inch by inch. She heard his breath hitch, felt his hips lift as he clenched his muscles. But he didn’t push. Didn’t rush her. Didn’t make her feel self-conscious despite the fact that she was fully on display.

  Adeline closed her eyes, lost in the sensation of abandonment. Of power. Suffused by sensual heat, she brought an arm behind her head, lifting her hair from the back of her neck as she rocked in a steady rhythm. She became aware of a growing slickness where their bodies touched, but wasn’t sure whether the sweat came from her or him. Maybe both.

  Pleasure built, until she was so full of it, she thought she might burst. But release eluded her.

  “Sutton…”

  “Do you need something from me?”

  She nodded. “Please.”

  “Can you put pressure on your arm?”

  She opened her eyes. “I think so.”

  “Then get on your hands and knees.”

  Adeline did, holding her breath as he repositioned himself behind her. When he took hold of her hips, sliding inside her with a decisive thrust, she let that breath out on a scream.

  “Are you –”

  “Fine,” she practically yelled. “Just – yes. God. Don’t stop.”

  He didn’t, nor did he treat her like spun glass. She might well be sore in the morning, but she didn’t care. That’s what ibuprofen was for. Sutton reached around, giving her the last bit of stimulation that she needed to push her over the edge, and his guttural cry followed hers within seconds. Adeline’s arm gave out, and she fell face first onto the bed.

  Where Sutton ended up, she had no idea. Maybe touching her, maybe not. Her entire body had gone numb.

  “Wow,” he finally muttered from somewhere off to her right.

  Adeline grunted her agreement.

  “I’m starving,” he added, and she realized that she was, too. It made her remember the pie she’d had delivered.

  “I have something for you to eat.”

  “Give me a little while first. I need to rebuild my strength.”

  She slapped at him without heat. “No, you pervert. I mean actual food. There’s an apple custard pie in the fridge.”

  He lifted her hair off her face so that he could see her eyes. “Don’t tease me.”

  “I’m not.” With some effort, she sat up. “Your, um, ex-girlfriend delivered it earlier.”

  “Shannon?”

  “Are there others who would be delivering pies from Clancy’s?”

  “No. I hope that wasn’t too awkward.”

  “Not after I accepted that she hates me.”

  “There’s no reason she would. It was over years ago.”

  Adeline wasn’t so sure the other woman agreed. But she didn’t really want to discuss her right now. “I’m going to go get the pie. We’ll have dessert first.”

  “I can get it.”

  She gestured him back when he started to rise. “I’ll do it. I
need to get my glasses anyway.”

  Grabbing the first article of clothing she found on the floor, she pulled on Sutton’s flannel and headed through the door that led downstairs. The stairwell was colder than the apartment, and Adeline pulled the edges of the shirt together, trying to button it, only to discover that several of them were missing.

  Whoops.

  She hadn’t realized that she’d done so much damage. She didn’t think she’d ever been quite that… brazen before.

  But then she’d never been with a man quite like Sutton.

  Feeling sated and cocky and maybe a little in love, Adeline practically skipped toward the breakroom.

  Glasses, she thought, switching on the light as she looked around. Where had she put them? The sofa. She vaguely remembered tossing them off when she’d started making out with Sutton. Because everything was blurry – hence the need for glasses – she moved cautiously so as not to step on them by accident. Luckily, however, they hadn’t made it to the floor. She spotted the bright green frames against the brown leather cushions.

  “Let there be sight.”

  Sliding them on, she figured she should probably go ahead and grab her bag and take it upstairs as well. Recalling that she’d set it on the table, she headed that direction, noticing that Sutton’s coat must have slipped from the chair where he’d thrown it. When she reached over to pick it up, a piece of paper fell from the pocket. Adeline started to tuck it back inside when one of the words caught her eye.

  Bristol.

  Torn between curiosity and not wanting to invade Sutton’s privacy, she debated for a moment before curiosity won out.

  After reading the note, Adeline frowned. Where had Sutton gotten this? Had it been in with the growth chart and she just missed it? Beckett had mentioned that he’d originally intended to give the beam to her uncle.

  Shrugging it off, she slid the note into his pocket. She’d ask him about it later.

  Sutton’s keys were still on the table, so she grabbed those as well. Gathering her bags along with both of their coats, she bumped the light switch with her shoulder and then went back into the hall.

  Damn, had it gotten colder? Or maybe her body temperature was finally coming down from its sexual high.