I raised my hand slowly and watched it move toward Julia, breaths escaping her lips in ragged gasps. I’d get more of that before the night was through. And I wanted to hear every word, every moan, every sound she was capable of making while in the throes of passion.
For me. And she’d come for me, too. All over me.
Julia blinked rapidly, pressing her lips together and peeling them apart again, that pink tongue darting through, trailing moisture along her lower lip. That same lip I’d been wanting to suck on since I’d seen her again.
I brushed my fingers down her neck and brought them to rest on her collar bone.
“Oh,” she said, then gulped. Her skin broke out in goosebumps and her already swollen nipples strained beneath the fabric of that pink dress.
The sight of that alone almost had me doubled over. My hand hovered. Closer. But then…I stilled myself. I’d have to take this slow. If I rushed, it’d be over before it began and she’d never be satisfied. I’d hardly been a player even though I’d known my share of women. Even in college when Heather and I had separated, I’d never gone hog wild, but no woman had ever had this effect on me. Shit, my mouth was dry, and I couldn’t breathe properly. Here with Julia, I expected myself to be strong and solid, and I felt like I might buckle on my bad knee.
I felt the pads of my fingers on her silky skin, and forced them still. The calm before the storm.
She opened her mouth to talk but no words came out. She didn’t even stammer. Just let her mouth hang open in a perfect oval shape.
I dragged my fingers back to her throat, placed my thumb in the hollow there, circled her fine neck with my hand, then used the other to cup her cheek, stroke a line beside her ear.
Julia leaned into the touch. “Adam.” The word was barely a breath.
“Yes?” Close, inches apart now. She’d surrendered. I felt it. I knew it. But, would I take it and make it mine?
“More.”
I brought my lips to hers and parted them, tasting the sweetness of her kiss for the first time. The pleasure curled in my chest, a low pulse of desire searing from my lips inwards and outwards again. I broke the kiss and leaned back on the counter. I wanted this too much. I was too turned on, already rock hard. Straining. It felt like my cock had been screaming for this woman since I’d laid eyes on her.
But Julia wasn’t done yet.
She flew into my arms and pressed her supple form against me, those perfect breasts, the tapered waist, all of it. Her hands wandered, grabbing handfuls of my shirt, ripping at it as I kissed a line of fire up her neck and to her lips.
“Julia,” I groaned into her mouth. “I want to go slow. I want to savor every moment. Right now, I just want to hold you and feel you pressed against my body.”
“Bedroom,” she croaked.
Chapter 19
Julia
I stood on the opposite side of the bed from him. We were still fully clothed. That was the way it had to stay tonight, according to Adam. If he saw me naked or touched too much of my silky skin, we’d go too far for a first date. Inside, I knew it too, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to break my rule. Shatter it into a million tiny pieces. Somehow, I knew that if I slept with him tonight, he wouldn’t ghost me. Adam Spencer wasn’t in this for sex.
I could hardly believe we’d already gone this far, that he wanted me the same as I wanted him. The kiss in the kitchen had scoured out memories of any other guy I’d ever kissed. Deep in my heart, I’d hoped for a little kiss goodnight, but the connection between us was something I’d never felt before.
He’d cleaned me of the past and elevated me to new heights with that kiss. And it was just a kiss.
What would happen when he touched me? Stripped me bare and touched my most intimate places?
If we did those things. Now that we were in the bedroom, my nerves had returned.
And he just stood there, watching me, not moving, his eyes full of an unidentifiable emotion.
Was he afraid, too?
I wet my lips with the tip of my tongue, tasting the sweetness of his kiss.
Adam unbuttoned the top button of his long-sleeved shirt without breaking eye contact. He didn’t smile, yet he didn’t stop either. He rolled up his sleeves so his forearms were exposed, a mass of rippling muscle.
There were scars too, white with age.
My hungry gaze travelled, resting on the massive bump in the front of his jeans, and I blushed. I looked away again, biting the corner of my lip.
“Just holding?” I asked, my voice shaking.
“Yes. I promise.” He walked toward me and held out his arms. “I know I don’t deserve it. But I’m asking you to trust me tonight, Julia. Will you let me hold you all night and take the stress and pain away?”
“Yes.”
***
The first rays of sunshine spilled in through my bedroom blinds. I could smell him in my nostrils. Feel his rough skin on my fingertips. Holding him and not touching him intimately had been the hardest thing I’d ever done, but taking it slowly had paved the way for future trust between us. I stirred and fidgeted as a small sigh escaped my lips. He was hard already. So hard it was probably painful and here I was, snuggling my rounded behind against him.
Teasing him.
He groaned and wrapped his arms tighter around me, raining kisses on my bare shoulder. During the night, he’d gotten hot so he’d stripped down to his pants and his chest hairs were abrading the soft skin of my back.
“Good morning,” I whimpered as I stretched and flipped onto my back.
He couldn’t see much more than a few inches of my creamy skin above the lapels of my plaid flannel pajamas. He’d chuckled at my choice of sleepwear but had to admit they were the only things keeping him from ravishing me. Adam swept my hair from my face and leaned in to capture my lips.
I pushed him away, embarrassed. “No way,” I protested. “Morning breath.”
He flipped onto his back, too. “You smell great, Julia. You feel great. There isn’t anything that could make me want to leave this bed. It feels so right to be here beside you.”
I intertwined my fingers with his and I could sense the smile touching his lips even though I could only see the flecks of sparkle in the sprayed ceiling.
He hopped up and soon, I heard the bathroom water running. As I waited for Adam’s warmth to return to the bed, I thought of Heather and her continued aggravating behavior. Even though Adam seemed to hate Mark and what he’d done to him, I couldn’t help but wonder if Mark just wasn’t some pathetic pawn in Heather’s twisted game. He’d seemed genuinely surprised to see us at the New Scenic Café last night and then appalled at Heather’s behavior.
“Hi, handsome,” I moaned out as he slid back between the sheets, and I popped up. “My turn. It’s not fair that you have minty breath and mine smells like dragon dung.”
After a quick use of the facilities, I jumped back into the bed and wrapped my arms around him.
“We don’t have to do this,” he murmured, circling my body with his.
If we stayed inside, snuggled up, I knew that needed to be my decision. If I’d let him, he’d be here all day or until the rumbling of our stomachs pushed us down to the kitchen.
Things had been so damn complicated since I’d first gone to visit him at the hospital. I didn’t deserve it. Not at all.
“Let’s stay in bed, Adam. It’s what I want,” I whimpered. Then I slid my eyes up and down his body in a visual caress, making the decision I’d been wanting to make all along. “And you can lose the pants.”
“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear you say that,” Adam said in another heated groan.
I laughed. “About eight hours?”
Adam opened his fly and allowed his pants to fall in a heap on my carpet until he stood before me in just his boxer briefs. I never broke eye contact. He kneeled on the bed and cupped my face in his palms again, and our lips met in a tender kiss. The pressure as soft as butterfly wings.
But I wanted more than tender and soft so I dug my nails into the flesh of his back. And he wanted more, too, judging by the strength of his passion.
So much more.
Adam growled and deepened the kiss, taking more from me, plundering my mouth with his tongue until I moaned. My flesh had flushed into a whirling tornado of heat, and he put one hand on the nape of my neck as he unbuttoned the top two buttons of my flannel shirt. His fingers grazed the seams and pulled so the fabric pooled in a heap at my waist.
I met his eyes and then pressed my naked breasts against his skin. My nipples hardened, brushing against the smattering of rough hair in the center of my chest, sending tingles through my breasts.
“I’m not sure what to do with you,” Adam admitted as he knelt in front of me, holding me tight. I’d never felt this way before with a man. Unsure. Like one wrong move might tumble the house of cards down around me and implode the best thing ever.
So instead, all I did was watch him, my passion-filled eyes alight with desire.
“Stay there,” he said and stood up next to the bed. The sight of him standing there, his cock straining for me, caused a shot of desperation to rifle through my body so hard I thought I might lose it. Damn, he was hot. So fucking gorgeous and so far out of my league. Maybe Heather was right and I didn’t deserve him.
Adam stepped to the edge of the bed, grabbed my ankles and pulled me toward him. He positioned himself between them, forcing my legs to fall open to accommodate his hips. I turned my face, flushing so hard that I felt the heat land on the top of my scalp. He glanced down and hissed in a breath. It was like I was a model of passion on display for his eyes only.
My heart skipped a beat.
“Look at me,” he said, his tone compelling. Demanding.
I forced myself to do as he asked and found him looking not at my pussy but deep into my eyes. Like he wanted me. And I felt wanted. Desired. Nothing prior in my life had compared to this moment of feeling like the most beautiful woman in the world. Only for him.
“Do you want me to stop?”
“Don’t stop,” I begged as I thrashed my head in the negative. “Adam, I need you. Please touch me.”
“Do you want me to taste you?” he asked, pressing his massive hands to the sensitive skin of my inner thighs and opening me further. I clenched my eyes shut against the rioting sensations of simply having his fingers close to the spot that throbbed with such longing I’d probably come undone the moment he touched my slick heat. It already felt amazing, with spikes and shivers across my skin and the flood of wetness at my core. A low pulse of desire which overrode rational thought.
Adam didn’t wait for an answer and instead slid his hands beneath my ass. With a gentle push, he lifted me a few inches as I fisted the comforter in my clutching fingers. Grasping. Needing.
Something.
I felt so vulnerable, my most intimate parts on display for his hungry gaze. But part of me welcomed it at the same time. Wanted it more than breath. After a few heated moments, I found my embarrassment fading and my excitement mounting. I wished he’d lean in and use that same talented tongue that kissed me so passionately to…
“Please,” I whimpered.
Adam locked eyes with me again, then lowered his mouth to the outer folds of my pussy. He brushed his lips against me, as soft as silk at first, but it was enough to send liquid heat spiraling from my core to flow throughout the rest of my body. Then he opened his mouth and glided his tongue along my slick entrance.
“God, Julia,” he moaned against me, the vibration causing quakes throughout my body. “You taste incredible. I’ve dreamt of doing this since the moment I saw you in my hospital room through my drug induced haze. No. I have to be honest. I’ve wanted to lick your entire body since I saw you back in college at that wild kegger.”
He had?
The admission caused a surge of joy to shoot through me. I didn’t answer but arched my hips closer to his questing mouth. He stroked his tongue over me again and again, until I found myself lifting automatically to meet him and increase my own pleasure. He sucked my clit deep into his mouth and I cried out with the sensation of impending release.
I rode it out, clasping handfuls of his hair in a desperate attempt to get him closer. Closer. And Adam gave it, drawing out my orgasm for what felt like an eternity. When the tremors stopped and I lay limp and languid on the bed, only then did he join me and spread out next to me. I looked up at him in amazement and anticipation.
“That was amazing,” I whispered as I grasped the waistband of his underwear, suddenly becoming more daring than I’d ever been. It felt like my skin had ignited, bursting into a wildfire of flames and heat. “Off.”
I stared at him as if I’d never seen a man naked before. Of course, I’d seen a couple, but they paled in comparison. This man was all wide shoulders, lean hips, and corded muscle. His defined chest had a peppering of dark hair that tapered down to… holy mother of God.
“Tell me to stop,” he whispered. Holding space. Making it my decision.
“Don’t stop, Adam,” I pleaded. “I want this. I want you.”
Although I’m not quite sure I’ll be able to take all of you.
I snuggled deeper into the mattress as if doing so could somehow protect me from the maelstrom of emotions swirling throughout my fevered body. Adam crawled to loom over me like a hungry lion. Hungry for me. He braced one hand on either side of my head and leaned down to capture my lips. The heat from my arousal enveloped me but a little shiver still coursed through me at the feel of him. Bare. Wicked.
“We shouldn’t do this,” he admitted. “It feels too soon for you.”
I shook my head, anxious to set him straight. “No. It feels right.”
I reached up and cradled the nape of his neck in my palm. A tender gesture that I hoped imparted to him that this wasn’t just sex to me. It meant something. He meant something. Probably too much considering the short time we’d been re-connected.
Adam kissed me again, a gentle joining of our lips. I tasted myself on his tongue and the earthy tone was surprising and arousing. Wanting more, I drew him in even closer until his steely cock jutted against my belly, but the evidence of his desire didn’t frighten me.
It nourished me.
Adam opened my legs wider and positioned himself at my core. Not for one second did I think of stopping him. Stopping this. Instead, I raised my hips in greeting as he entered me in one fluid thrust. Then, I closed my eyes against the pleasure. The fullness. The rightness.
Once he’d buried himself within me until our hips met, Adam leaned back slightly and met my fevered gaze. My heavy breathing indicated my own desire. I imagined he wanted to drive home and thrust harder, but he was waiting. Waiting for me. In that moment, I realized how much I cared about him as a man. I loved his consideration for me and his thoughtfulness in always putting my needs first. Protecting me.
“Adam… please.” I wanted to give him permission. Permission to use me. Take me hard and fast.
“Please, what?”
“Harder. Faster.”
My permission seemed to break the haze surrounding us. Adam began to move and I rose to meet him stroke for stroke. Everything Adam gave me, I took it and asked for more. I couldn’t remember the exact moment where he lost control, but he shuddered and panted.
“Julia, I can’t wait much longer.”
“Flip over.”
He didn’t need to be told twice as he quickly changed our positions so he was flat on his back and I was on top. In control.
“Touch me,” I pleaded, grabbing his hand and moving it to the juncture of my thighs, right where the two of us were joined. As Adam’s fingers found my engorged clit and began circling it in a slow, steady rhythm, I began to move. I slid slowly up until just Adam’s tip remained lodged inside me before I’d rocket back down, grinding myself into his hips. A moan of extreme pleasure escaped and I closed my eyes against it. To look at him now would simply be too much.
>
Adam didn’t stop his relentless touching and circling until white-hot pleasure radiated out from every nerve ending. All I could feel was ecstasy and Adam. Filling me. Stretching me to delicious capacity. I lost myself in the moment, the pleasure originating in my core and spreading from my crown to the tips of my fingers and toes. I shuddered and felt the spasms constricting around his cock as he joined me in a blinding orgasm.
Spent, I sagged on top of him and took in a heaving breath. White hot rain, blinding pleasure, unthinkable. I clung to him, wanting to prolong the moment. A moment of such perfection I wondered if it was even real. In spite of feeling liquid, I also felt renewed. Like I could do this again and again and it might never be enough. Only with him.
And it was in that moment of complete simplicity, as we held tightly to each other – spent – I realized that the aftermath was more terrifying than the blinding passion. This feeling could implode my life.
Because it was perfect.
Chapter 20
Adam
I sat on the sofa in my living room, grimacing at the TV on the wall. The newscaster was a Duluth local, brimming with pride over the news. I could still smell Julia, feel her silky skin on my fingertips. Even though I’d seen her almost every day in the past few months, every time felt like the first. I might never get enough of her. Our budding relationship had taken over my every thought.
“Barb, I can’t tell you the morning I’ve had,” the talking head said to his colleague, flashing his white as toothpaste teeth.
“Why’s that, Fred?” Barb asked, patting the papers on the desk and giving the camera a secretive wink.
“We’ve received news that Adam Spencer’s past his post-surgery rehabilitation stage and is ready to rejoin the Caribou!”
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